IND vs ENG: Rishabh Pant Should Be Preferred Over Dinesh Karthik In T20 World Cup 2022 Semi-final, Feel Robin Uthappa, Tom Moody

Former India National Cricket Team player Robin Uthappa and former Australia National Cricket Team all-rounder Tom Moody believe that the young wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant should be played over Dinesh Karthik in India playing XI in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final game.

India registered a dominant 71-run victory over Zimbabwe in the last ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 game to finish at the top of the Group 2 points table. The 2007 T20 World Cup champions will now lock horns with England National Cricket Team in semi-final 2 on November 10 at the Adelaide Oval.

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Notably, Rohit Sharma and Co. made a surprising change to the playing XI in the game against the Chevrons as they dropped Karthik and included Pant in the team. Talking about the decision, India captain Rohit Sharma said:

“Pant plays instead of DK, he is the only guy who hasn’t played a single game on this tour including the warm-up games, we wanted to give him a game.”

However, the 25-year-old failed to perform well as he scored just 3 runs off 5 balls, before being cleaned up by Sean Williams in the 14th over as Ryan Burl grabbed a sensational catch.

Rishabh Pant would be the best option to take Adil Rashid down – Robin Uthappa

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out, Robin Uthappa said that the young wicketkeeper-batter Pant could easily take down England’s premier spinner Adil Rashid in Adelaide, where the square boundaries are short.

He said: “I think in Adelaide where the square boundaries are as small as they can be in Australia and with Adil Rashid there, I think Rishabh Pant would be the best option to take him down.” 

Moody talked about Pant’s shot selection and said that he played the right shot it’s just that luck didn’t favour him. He elaborated:

“Did he take the right option? Was it at the right time? Was it against the right bowler? Yes, Yes, Yes. The bit of fielding, just hit slightly straighter than he would have ideally liked. Two metres further or even two inches further that would have been 4 or 6.

“You can’t over analyse every dismissal you need to look beyond that and I think he has articulated that very well, that’s looking beyond that. So I wouldn’t have any issue whatsoever around that shot he played today.”

Also Read: Twitter Reacts As Dinesh Karthik Is Replaced By Rishabh Pant In India’s Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe In ICC T20 World Cup