India batter Robin Uthappa has shared his thoughts on the possible India XI for the Afghanistan match in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 super 4s stage. Both the teams have been eliminated from the race of the final and have the pride to play for.

Though the larger objective of the team management still remains to find the right team composition for the T20 World Cup 2022, Robin Uthappa feels Rishabh Pant might be dropped from the match.

Pant took over the keeper-batter role from Dinesh Karthik for the last two matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka but failed to justify his selection scoring 14 and 17 respectively. Against Afghanistan, the team management might look to bring Karthik back, according to Uthappa.

He also felt that Deepak Chahar will get a chance to play in this match.

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"I think Dinesh Karthik will be playing today's game as a finisher. He and Hardik Pandya will be the finishers at No. 6 and 7. I feel Rishabh Pant might be dropped and Deepak Hooda will bat at No. 5. In bowling, I think Deepak Chahar will play because India will try a few experiments because this is their only opportunity. He is coming from a break and had a good outing against Zimbabwe, so he deserves an opportunity,” Uthappa said on ESPNCricinfo.

He also talked about how the absence of Ravindra Jadeja in the XI might make way for Akshar Patel, but said that it might mean Deepak Hooda being left out of the side. Hooda has been in the side as a finisher but didn’t do much.

"In my opinion, Axar can fit into the playing XI but whether he plays or not, it's on the team management. If Axar plays, then Hardik would bat at No. 5 followed by Karthik and Axar at six and seven. In that case, Hooda and Pant will miss out. They can go with this strategy or play Deepak Chahar. They are likely to go with either of these two" the veteran cricketer said.