Team India had a big selection conundrum regarding their wicketkeeper’s place. Veteran Dinesh Karthik played the matches in series against Australia and South Africa and became the first choice for the Men in Blue in place of Rishabh Pant. But he failed to do well and was left out of the side’s final Super 12 game against Zimbabwe as well.
Meanwhile, Pant, who finally got his opportunity on Sunday, November 6, got out after scoring just 3 runs owing to a stunner by Ryan Burl at the long-on boundary. With the semi-final against England three days away, India have a decision to make as well.
Notably, Rishabh Pant averages 23.51 in 63 matches but Team India head coach Rahul Dravid said that the management has confidence in him. Dravid also said that when a pool of 15 players is selected, all are good enough to represent the team and then they have to choose 11 considering on the combination.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not that we ever lost confidence in Rishabh. We have got confidence in all the 15 players in the squad. It’s only 11 guys who can play. It depends on the combination that you have to play.
Perhaps it’s destiny, that a big match player is in the Indian playing XI come the big matches. Watch out for Rishabh Pant!
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) November 8, 2022
“The very fact that they are here and part of the World Cup tells you that we have confidence in them. It means that any time we can call them to play. When you pick 15 from so many other options, that means you have got a lot of confidence in your 15. Some people, sometimes, miss out,” Rahul Dravid said at post-match press conference.
We don’t judge players based on one game – Rahul Dravid on Rishabh Pant
Indian head coach has also said that Rishabh Pant was doing wicket-keeping practice and batting in the nets to keep himself match-ready. Even though Pant got out early on Sunday, Dravid wasn’t bothered by his dismissal as well.
“It didn’t kind of work out today after we gave him an opportunity. I am absolutely not bothered at all. I think he took the right option. His role was to take on the left-arm spinner which was there, sometimes, it comes off and sometimes it doesn’t. We don’t judge players based on one game and whether we play a player or not is not based on one game. It’s based on match-ups and what are the skills that we need. A lot of things go into these kinds of decisions,” Rahul Dravid concluded.
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