All the players are competing for a place in the playing 11 but the road is not going to be easy. India are only 11 places up in the playing XI and for each spot, at least 4 players are looking for opportunities. While some choose names for themselves such as Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal and even the struggling Virat Kohli, for the rest it is a three-way fight – as Mohammed Shami and Harshal Patel compete for the second pacer slot and One four is a contest between Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Dinesh Karthik and Ishaan Kishan for the wicketkeeper’s position.
If Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja retain their current form, they too will be certain in the XI, with Suryakumar Yadav also almost convincing. However, one area where there is a lot of suspense amidst all this is the position of the keeper. All the four players are extremely talented and prove themselves with the bat and the stumps, it remains to be seen who gets the nod. Weighing in on the same, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has picked two out of the four names he would prefer based on the current form.
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“We have seen what Rishabh is capable of in 50-over cricket and I am fully aware of what he is capable of in a T20 game. Dinesh Karthik has had his best IPL recently…more I’m trying to find every possible way to include both of those guys in my team. Rishabh to bat, in that three-four-five range, and there’s Dinesh and maybe Hardik Pandya… look very, very dangerous Has been,” Ponting said on the ICC Review Show.
After a sensational and match-winning century against England in the third ODI, Pant has displayed his playing skills in this form as well. Still, Pant will have to do well in the West Indies to claim the T20 World Cup 2022. Karthik, on the other hand, has converted his stellar IPL form into impressive performances for India. This clearly means that the middle order will pile up, making it difficult for some players to grab opportunities.
“Obviously it means someone (Ishaan) Kishan or Surya (Suriyakumar Yadav) or (Shreyas) Iyer, someone like that can miss and I don’t think Suriya will miss given his current form. But when you get that much It is always difficult to pick talent for the Indian team and Pant and Karthik would be the two, I would pick them ahead of Kishan right now,” Ponting said.