Former Indian Spinner On Playing Dinesh Karthik Over Rishabh Pant Against Pakistan. Harbhajan Singh, a former India spinner, believes that playing Dinesh Karthik ahead of Rishabh Pant was the “right decision.”
Team India defeated Pakistan by five wickets on Sunday to begin their Asia Cup 2022 campaign on a high note. The biggest news came during the toss, when skipper Rohit announced that Dinesh Karthik would replace Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeeper-batter. This decision baffled Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Akram, who were commentating on the India-Pakistan match.
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Harbhajan Singh believes this was the “right decision” because it is now time for Dinesh Karthik to play.
“Rishabh Pant has performed admirably in both Test and one-day cricket. He’s been fantastic. However, in this shortest format, he has not been a successful player. Dinesh Karthik’s graph, on the other hand, is only rising. He has performed admirably. This is the correct choice. It’s pointless to keep him on the bench in this format and form. It is time for Dinesh Karthik to play, and he should do so “Harbhajan revealed to Aaj Tak.
Dinesh Karthik took three catches behind the stumps and only batted once, taking a crucial single to bring Hardik Pandya on strike in the final over, before the all-rounder hit a six on the fourth ball to seal the contest for India.
“Rishabh Pant is still young, and he has plenty of time ahead of him. However, Dinesh Karthik has only 1-2 years left and should make the most of it; the team should also capitalize on Karthik’s form. Batting down the order, he can win a lot of matches. With Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik batting down the order, I believe most opposition bowlers will struggle “He continued.
Dinesh Karthik returned to the team earlier this year after strong performances for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. He then came down the order and hit crucial runs to get India over the line. Pant, on the other hand, has struggled to deliver consistent performances in the shortest format.
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