MSK Prasad drops a hint of trying Rishabh Pant as an opener during Australia ODIs
Selectors want Pant to play a few ODIs before taking a final call.
The MSK Prasad-led selection panel announced a T20I and ODI squad for the upcoming home series against Australia. While KL Rahul returned to the team, Dinesh Karthik’s exclusion has left many bamboozled as he had done nothing wrong to be left out. But the selectors seem confused over the choice of second wicket-keeper and want Rishabh Pant to play a few ODIs before taking a final call.
However, with all the preferred players also in the squad, Pant’s batting position in the line-up is the big question. Only a few days ago, the former Australian cricketer Shane Warne was in favour of the youngster opening the innings in World Cup. He was also backed by Sunil Gavaskar but that option looks unlikely with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma doing extremely well over the last few years.
During the press conference though MSK Prasad nodded his head positively when asked if Rishabh Pant could be tried out at the top of the order.
We are discussing
MSK Prasad stressed the advantages of Pant being a left-hander and felt that left-right combination could be useful during the World Cup. “We have included him considering many factors. We will try and figure out his best possible batting position because being a left-hander, there is an advantage of playing left-right combination. We are discussing all that,” he said and also affirmed, “Yes,” when asked if he could play as a top-order batsman in the series.
India only have these five ODIs against Australia to take a call and with Pant included in the squad at the expense of Karthik, the former has a great chance to cement his place with impressive performances. While Karthik hasn’t done anything wrong, the selectors look to be in favour of Pant more so because he is a left-hander and offers an attacking option in the line-up.
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