One thing which the Indian captain Rohit Sharma and the team management have made clear is the fact that Dinesh Karthik might be preferred ahead of Rishabh Pant in the T20 World Cup. Karthik was part of all three matches against Australia whereas Pant only played the second game.
However, Rohit Sharma feels Karthik needs more game time before the T20 World Cup as he is batting in the lower middle order and hasn’t got the opportunity to bat much. Karthik scored six runs in the first T20I after facing four balls while he added the finishing touches in the second game with a little cameo of 2-ball 10.
The Indian wicket-keeper played only one ball in the third T20I against the Aussies. However, Axar Patel was promoted ahead of Dinesh Karthik in the first T20I which left a lot of cricket experts stunned by the management’s call.
In fact, Rishabh Pant was given the nod ahead of Dinesh Karthik in the Asia Cup.
“I wanted both of these guys to have a number of games under their belt before the World Cup. When we went to the Asia Cup both of these guys were in the fray to play all games,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference after India clinched the three-match series against Australia on Sunday.
“But I just feel that Dinesh needs a little more game time. He hardly got to bat (this series). Just maybe three balls. So that’s not enough time,” Rohit added.
Pant played in the second T20I against Australia but didn’t get a chance to bat in the middle as the match was trimmed to eight overs a side.
“Pant also needs game time obviously. But looking at how this series was it was important for me to just stick to that consistent batting lineup.”
Meanwhile, Rohit went on to indicate that Pant and Karthik’s selection will depend on the situation in the upcoming series against South Africa.
“I don’t know what we’re gonna do against South Africa. We just need to go and see their bowling, what sort of bowling lineup they’ll play with, and who are the best guys for us who can handle that bowling lineup. It all depends on that.
“We want to be flexible in our batting. So if the situation or if the thing demands that we need a left-hander, we will bring in a left-hander if we need a right-hander, we will continue to do that.
“But we’ll try and manage those guys pretty carefully. I do understand that they need game time before the World Cup but there are only 11 players you can play, unfortunately.”
