T20 World Cup 2022: Rishabh Pant Has A Say On Competition With Dinesh Karthik For T20 World Cup Spot

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has come out with a befitting reply over a potential snub in the Indian team with the presence of veteran player Dinesh Karthik.

The T20 World Cup 2022 is just two months away to kick off Down Under and by now teams are likely to have picked their core squad after testing them in multiple bilateral series.

Dinesh Karthik or Rishabh Pant for India in T20 World Cup 2022?

A lot has been said since Karthik made a whirlwind comeback to the Indian team riding on a phenomenal success in the IPL 2022 with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Karthik carried forward his brilliant form in international cricket, slamming a maiden half-century during the fourth T20I against South Africa in Rajkot that helped India to win and level the series.

It won’t be wrong to say that Karthik’s upward graph and Pant’s diminishing returns have an inverse relationship. As the stand-in skipper for India in the South Africa T20Is, Pant struggled to score runs, amassing 58 runs at 14.50 in five games.

The Indian keeper opened the innings alongside captain Rohit Sharma in the last two T20I matches in Birmingham and Nottingham.

He had a decent outing in the West Indies tour with 115 runs in four games at 38.33, while Karthik pummelled 41 runs in 19 balls in the first match.

We don’t think along those lines: Rishabh Pant on Dinesh Karthik as a threat to his place in T20 World Cup

Pant and Karthik have played together in the playing XI for India since June. The youngster keeps the wickets and Karthik purely plays as a finisher in the team.

One could even consider Karthik a second-choice wicketkeeper as seen in the fifth T20I against West Indies.

Many experts have suggested that the Indian selectors should pick between the two players in a bid to strike balance in the team.

Pant dismissed the concerns over selection context and left it to the team management to decide the best for team welfare.

“We don’t think on those lines. We as individuals always want to give our 100 per cent to the team. Rest depends on the coach and the captain and how the team could get an advantage from that,” Pant told Zee Hindustan. 

Pant and Karthik are part of India’s Asia Cup 2022 squad, where they will play a clinical role in the title defence.

Also Read: Rishabh Pant Has The Capacity To Open The Batting — Mahela Jayawardene