Veteran wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik was preferred over Rishabh Pant in India’s playing XI for the first T20I against Australia in Mohali. However, a truncated eight-over game allowed the management to accommodate both in the line-up for the second T20I in Nagpur.
While it has become a debate before a T20I match that who among the two wicketkeepers will find a spot in the playing XI, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes that both Karthik and Pant can feature together in the line-up.
"Yeah I see both of them playing. Hardik at 5, Pant at 6 or maybe Pant ahead of Hardik depending on the situation and Karthik at 7," Gavaskar said in an interaction with Star Sports.
However, the former India opener suggested Rishabh Pant to improve his game through the offside.
"His offside game. Same with Hardik Pandya as well. Look at how he has developed his off-side game. Bowlers will say he's got the power, so let's target his off-side. What Hardik Pandya is doing now is using the pace and hitting over deep point for a six, that's what Pant has got to do. Pant is a predetermined, premeditated cricketer. He decides quite often what he is going to do before the ball is bowled. That's why he gets into trouble as he looks for something which is not there," he added.
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden, who was also part of the discussion, disagreed with Gavaskar and picked Pant over Karthik for the big Australian grounds in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022.
"For me personally, it has to be Rishabh Pant. You need to bank on him for the T20 World Cup. If this was a longer version of the game, you might see otherwise. When you are playing in Australian conditions. You want the power. DK is a magnificent player when he can use the pace of the bowler and the pitch but MCG is a big ground. You need a proper monumental hit to clear the ground, especially the square of the wicket. So it's so key to have power hitters, at least 3-4 players who can hit the ball long. Rishabh has got that versatility. I'd like to see him play more orthodox, he's been lost in experiments for long now," Hayden said.
