Indian fans were a little surprised when they found out that veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik was preferred ahead of Rishabh Pant in the Asia Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan on Sunday. The former did a decent job behind the wickets and even bagged the award for the ‘Best Catch of the Match’. However, the decision of going ahead with the 37-year-old left the cricket fraternity divided.
Several former cricketers backed the decision, drawing comparisons between both stumpers. Most of them believed Karthik has been in great nick while Pant hasn’t been that effective in the shortest format.
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Meanwhile, former India selector Saba Karim also spoke about Rishabh’s inconsistent run in the T20Is. Speaking exclusively on SPORTS18’s daily sports news show ‘SPORTS OVER THE TOP’, he said the youngster has given some mind-blowing performances but when it comes to T20, he needs to learn a lot.
“That is the conundrum which Rishabh Pant needs to come out of. But lately one has seen those glimpses of the kind of form he’s exhibited in test matches. We saw him play a blinder of an innings in one day against England. And similarly, there have been some great performances. Maybe not on a consistent basis, but I do believe that there’s still so much for Rishabh Pant to learn in T20 cricket. He’s become a much better player now, but I think with more exposure one can see Rishabh Pant growing in confidence and adding far more value to this T20 side also,” Saba Karim said.
The former Indian cricketer however admitted that he was surprised to see Karthik getting the spot ahead of Pant in the Pakistan game. Karim believes the 24-year-old can add more value than veteran Karthik.
“I was surprised because I do stick to my earlier stand of having Pant in the side in place of Dinesh Karthik because I always felt that we need to look ahead and even now I do believe that Rishabh Pant can add far more value with due respect to Dinesh Karthik than Dinesh Karthik. But there can be possible explanations over there about which one can chat,” Karim concluded.
India will now face Hong Kong in their next Group A fixture on Wednesday in Dubai.
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