Rishabh Pant out of Indian World Cup team: The 21-year old wicket-keeper batsman has been left out of the World Cup squad.
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Indian selectors have left out 21-year old wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 squad. In a bid to earn his place, Pant was in a long-fought contest with senior wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik.
Karthik had regularly featured in the India’s ODI squad last year. However, he was dropped for Pant in a bid to give more chances to the southpaw. The duo along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni were rotated across limited-over formats to make sure that none out of Karthik or Pant are bereft for chances.
While Dhoni was an automatic selection for the tournament, it was always going to be one out the other two.
More than anything, Pant’s inability to perform in ODIs has seen him being left out of the squad. In five ODIs, Pant has scored 93 runs at an average of 23.25 and a strike rate of 130.98. Not that Karthik has piled heaps of runs, but him finishing matches for India in crunch situations doubtlessly pressed his case ahead of Pant.
Speaking during the press conference, chief selector MSK Prasad opened up on reason behind naming Karthik ahead of Pant. Better wicket-keeping skills, experience and handling pressure in crunch situations were the reason given Prasad.
Rishabh Pant out of Indian World Cup team
Pant missed out on account of his keeping skills.
“Definitely a case where we debated in length. We all were in unison that either pant or DK will come in only when Mahi is injured. In an important game wicket keeping is also important.” – MSK Prasad
— The Field (@thefield_in) April 15, 2019
MSK Prasad also felt that Karthik is the best man to handle pressure.
“Karthik will only play in case of an injury to Mahi. In a crunch game, he is the best man to handle the pressure.”
— The Field (@thefield_in) April 15, 2019
‘Wicketkeeping also matters. That is the reason why we went with Dinesh Karthik otherwise Rishabh Pant was also there’
India’s chief selector MSK Prasad states Karthik will only make the XI in the absence of MS Dhoni
Live blog: https://t.co/GN5GBjcPHu #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/fcf7UsHjEN
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 15, 2019
How Twitter reacted:
BCCI leaves Rishabh Pant like Rishabh Pant leaves his bat from his left hand. #WorldCup2019
— Appurv Gupta-GuptaJi (@appurv_gupta) April 15, 2019
Rishabh Pant waiting for selectors pic.twitter.com/IhCz2mqOiq
— Faking News (@fakingnews) April 15, 2019
Rishabh Pant Could Have Been The X Factor In A Team Filled With Same Tempo Batsmen
— Chatil Panditasekara (@ChatilPandi) April 15, 2019
Rishabh pant to BCCI selectors : pic.twitter.com/F9UoLC1u4u
— Jayesh (@imJSuthar) April 15, 2019
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