Asia Cup 2022: You Have To Include Rishabh Pant In Playing XI Somehow - Parthiv Patel
Published - 01 Sep 2022, 03:49 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:12 AM
Team India’s destructive wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was forced to sit out of the playing XI in India’s clash against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.
The team management trusted veteran Dinesh Karthik over Pant for his match-finishing skills and the inclusion of KL Rahul meant that there’s no place for Pant in the top order either.
Pant got to play against Hong Kong as all-rounder Hardik Pandya was rested but the Indian gloveman didn’t get the opportunity to bat.
Parthiv Patel vouches for the inclusion of Rishabh Pant
Pant has been assigned different roles in the recent past. He has batted as a finisher, promoted up the order for left-right combination and was also given chance to open against England in the three-match T20I series in July.
“You have to include Pant in that playing XI somehow. He provides good versatility to the batting order,” Parthiv said on Cricbuzz.
Why India needs Rishabh Pant’s batting services in the current times
In the Pakistan clash, India promoted Ravindra Jadeja to No. 4 in the absence of Pant. Pant’s presence is such situations can make sure that the team consistently gets a left-right combination to unsettle the opponent bowlers.
KL Rahul made his comeback against Zimbabwe after 4 months of injury hiatus and has looked rusty in the five games he has played till now including the two games in Asia Cup.
Rahul went for a golden duck in the first game against Pakistan and played a sluggish knock against Hong Kong – 36 runs off 39 balls.
Even though Rishabh Pant has been a bit inconsistent, he has played enough match-winning knocks to prove his worth in the Indian team.
The 24-year-old has already won quite a few games single-handedly for India with a healthy strike rate of 126.5 which rises to 148 in IPL.
Considering the form of India’s top-3, Rishabh Pant looks like a must inclusion to bolster the batting unit in crucial games.
India became the second team after Afghanistan to qualify for the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2022.
