T20 World Cup playing XI: In almost every match of India nowadays, it’s almost impossible to predict the actual wicketkeeper batter to be part of the Indian side for the particular game.
Sometimes, the team opted to play with 36-year-old Karthik, while sometimes they choose the young Pant.
After making a return to the Indian side on the basis of a solid 2022 IPL season, Karthik initially played the Asia Cup for India as the first choice, but when Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the event due to an injury team they felt the need for a left-hander and the skipper in T20Is series against South Africa at home for India brought back in for the side for the remainder of the event.
Some days later, Karthik again made into the final playing eleven for the first game against Australia. While team gave chance to both in the second game.
Cricket pundits on Pant and Karthik
In these too many days, several cricket pundits have expressed their views on the Pant and Karthik debate, with legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar and former Australian Matthew Hayden also shared their views on the same.
Gavaskar stated that he wants both Karthik and Pant in India’s eleven come for the marquee event next month while Hayden was in support of Pant due to the bigger size of the grounds in Australia.
“Yeah I see both of them playing. Hardik at 5, Pant at 6 or maybe Pant ahead of Hardik. Depending on the situation and Karthik at 7,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports ahead of the second India vs Australia T20I in Nagpur.
While the former destructive Aussie opener believed that Pant’s as he is a power-hitter and will have an edge over Karthik as the latter might struggle to hit boundaries in big Australia grounds.
“No, I don’t think so. For me personally, it has to be Rishabh Pant. You need to bank on him for the T20 World Cup. If this was a longer version of the game, you might see otherwise. When you are playing in Australian conditions. You want the power.
DK is a magnificent player when he can use the pace of the bowler and the pitch. But, MCG is a big ground. You need a proper monumental hit to clear the ground, especially the square of the wicket. So it’s so key to have power hitters, at least 3-4 players who can hit the ball long. Rishabh has got that versatility. I’d like to see him play more orthodox, he’s been lost in experiments for long now,” the former Australia opener said.
Now we have to see who makes it to the T20 World Cup playing XI, Karthik or Pant.
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