The second semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup is all set to get underway between India and England on November 10 at the Adelaide Oval. The Jos Buttler-led team won the toss and elected to bowl first in the mega-clash. India’s wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has retained his place in the XI for the semi-final. There were several questions raised regarding his spot in the team in the T20 format.
Rishabh Pant did not play the initial matches of the 2022 T20 World Cup. Team India went ahead with wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik instead of Pant. However, Karthik could not make much of an impact in the tournament. In three innings, he managed just fourteen runs, batting in the lower-middle order. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma brought in Rishabh Pant in place of Karthik in their last encounter against Zimbabwe.
Rishabh Pant batted in the middle order, however, failed to grab the opportunity. He was dismissed for just three runs in five deliveries. The wicket-keeper is an explosive batter, but, surprisingly, his numbers in T20I do not reflect his batting talent. He averages 23.51 and has a strike rate of 127 in 64 T20Is. His place in the semi-finals was in doubt, however, Team India has provided another opportunity to the wicket-keeper.
🚨 Toss & Team News from Adelaide 🚨
England have elected to bowl against #TeamIndia in the #T20WorldCup semi-final. #INDvENG
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/5t1NQ2iUeJ
Here's our Playing XI 🔽 pic.twitter.com/9aFu6omDko
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 10, 2022
Let’s take a look at how the fans reacted to Rishabh Pant keeping his place in the Indian team in the semi-finals:
It was always going to be Pant or Karthik in this World Cup. With Pant the team feels more dynamic and more balanced #INDvsENG
— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) November 10, 2022
Make it count bro @RishabhPant17 ✨❤️
— Akash 🇮🇳 (@ViratBomB) November 10, 2022
Someone should tell Pant he is playing a test match here. Should do the trick! #T20WC2022 #INDvsENG
— Avinash Shenoy (@avinashshenoy) November 10, 2022
Good selection.. now upto pant to seize the moment! https://t.co/9w4Ob8BW8j
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) November 10, 2022
Bold call taken by #Indiancricketteam and I believe it’s a great decision to get @RishabhPant17 in! #INDvsENG #T20worldcup22 @IrfanPathan @GautamGambhir @StarSportsIndia @bhogleharsha
— Manan khakhar (@KhakharManan) November 10, 2022
Hope, Pant justifies his tag of X Factor. 2 saal se toh hum bhi wait kar rahe ki ye X Factor dikhe toh sahi T20 me.
— CHARLIE (@CharlieGulshan) November 10, 2022
Go well Rishabh 😘
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Prove yourself nowIt's a big situation a big occasion
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..@RishabhPant17 ❤️— 🅅🄸🄶🄽🄴🅂🄷🅁🄰🄷🄸🄵🄰🄽🄱🄾🅈 🇮🇳 7781❣️2786 (@vigneshMSD07) November 10, 2022
Wood and Malan not playing is big setback for England. Forced to rejig team and plans very, very late. More onus on Buttler, Stokes, Moeen, Curran. India plumping for Pant over DK shows team management have decided they need a left handed batsman. Also Pant has the X Factor!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 10, 2022
Pant man.. legacy creating opportunity
— Naman Agarwal (@CoverDrivenFor4) November 10, 2022
The kind of talent we have was tough to pick the XI: Rohit Sharma
Team India’s skipper Rohit Sharma expressed that the team knows England’s strengths and weaknesses as the two teams have played against each other quite often in recent years. Speaking about playing XI, he stated that it was a difficult job to select the team, given the talent in the team. Rohit said, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“We’ve played these guys a fair bit in recent years and know what strengths-weaknesses they have. Important to exploit that. Important to stay calm and do what we want to do. It (the injury) was a scare but I’m fine now. The kind of talent we have, it was a tough one (to pick the XI).”
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