The Indian men’s cricket team is going to participate in the Asia Cup T20 tournament later this month. This year’s edition of the multi-nation tournament will take place in the United Arab Emirates, and India has been placed in Group A along with Pakistan in the qualifiers. The Indian squad for the upcoming tournament has already been announced and has two wicketkeeper-batsmen namely Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik.
Going into the tournament, there are talks of players being included in the Indian playing XI, and many former greats and experts feel that both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik should not play together, as it will upset the balance of the team. According to him, if both the stumpers are in the team, then India will be able to play only four bowlers and Hardik Pandya, and this can create a problem, because in that case, India will have only five bowling options.
The matter is directly related to Pant’s place in the team whether he will be in it or not. So when this Delhi cricketer was asked about this, he gave a straight answer.
Talking about the potential threat to Karthik over his place in the T20I line-up for the Asia Cup from Zee Hindustan, Pant said, “We don’t think along that lines. We as individuals always give our 100 per cent. Want to give for the team. The rest depends on the coach and the captain and how the team can benefit from it.”
Since the end of IPL 2022, both Pant and Karthik were available for selection in both the matches India played. Pant appeared as a wicketkeeper-batsman and came to bat at four, Karthik played a finisher and excelled at it.
However, experts and veterans feel that India should choose between the two to add more balance to the team by fitting Hardik Pandya and bringing back Virat Kohli in the XI.