Rishabh Pant has finally been included in India’s playing XI for the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 being held in Australia. India have preferred Dinesh Karthik ahead of Pant in four of their five matches of the Super 12 stage as they became the first team from Group 2 to qualify for the semifinals on Sunday.
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With Karthik, a designated finisher, not doing much with the bat, calls for him to be dropped and replaced by the young Pant kept growing. However, the team management continued to back Karthik.
However, once the semis spot was confirmed, India decided to include Pant in their final Super 12 match in which they face Zimbabwe at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“One change, Rishabh Pant plays instead of Dinesh Karthik. He (Pant) 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,” India captain Rohit Sharma said at the coin toss on Sunday.
How good Rohit sharma and how bad Dinesh Karthik is in this World cup !#T20WorldCup #INDvsWIN
— Name nhi bataunga (@kyakarogeyjankr) November 6, 2022
If performance of #DineshKarthik has been a matter of concern, then so is #RohitSharma‘s
— Che Mir (@cheez_m) November 6, 2022
This guy was saying will be indias finisher according to gavaskar…for him they had removed samson from the squad and he is not playing today…#DineshKarthik #INDvsWIN
— dascricZ (@proudindianizme) November 6, 2022
Finally they giving chances to youngster in this old age home!!! #RishabhPant #T20WorldCup
— ZAYN (@Pant__peak) November 6, 2022
If Dinesh Karthik can be dropped after a few failures then why can’t KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma be dropped … Just because they are leaders of this team ?
— Cricket Fanatic (@Loyal_Cricket) November 6, 2022
Rishabh Pant ahead of DK is a good choice for multiple reasons:
1. Pant is explosive. On his day, he can win games on his own.
2. In these conditions, Pant has proven record ahead of DK
3. Pant, being a left-hander brings that variety in the line-up.#INDvsWIN
— Ajay Srinivasan (@Ajaychairman) November 6, 2022
Why the rishab pant??? Why u r loosing the touch of DK??? Worst decision to drop DK.
— Satnam Singh (@SatnamS23212774) November 6, 2022
The semifinal lineup for the world cup has thus been completed with India, New Zealand, England and Pakistan the four teams to advance.
Last-year’s runners-up New Zealand were the first team in the competition to make it to the semifinals while England qualified after beating Sri Lanka on Saturday which also eliminated current title holders Australia.
Then earlier on Sunday, South Africa lost to the Netherlands in yet another upset at the ongoing world cup. The defeat ended the Proteas hopes of progressing ahead and India were confirmed the first semifinalist from their group.
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