INDvsBAN: Rishabh Pant to replace Dinesh Karthik in Playing11, KL Rahul likely to retain his place.
Veteran wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik is set to miss India’s next fixture against Bangladesh after suffering a back injury. The Indian management is likely to rest Karthik and subsequently, Rishabh Pant would be brought into the playing11 against Bangladesh. Moreover, out-of-form opener batter, KL Rahul is likely to retain his place as the management thinks he is a great asset in these conditions.
Karthik complained of back pain during India’s last T20 World Cup 2022 match against South Africa. The glovesman looked in pain and walked off the field in 16th over after consulting the physio for a while. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant covered the wickets in Karthik’s absence for the remainder of the overs against South Africa.
Indian head coach Rahul Dravid on the eve of the India vs Bangladesh fixture confirmed that the 37-year-old wicketkeeper batter looked fine and came to have some practice sessions in the morning on Tuesday. However, as per the reports, the Indian management is not willing to risk Karthik for Bangladesh’s fixture and will be rested for the game.
“He had a spasm after he jumped for the ball and landed in such a way that he felt pain thereafter. He is looking fine now and has come for practice with us. He will be undergoing a few sessions in the early morning and then we will assess his situation,” said Rahul Dravid on the eve of the India-Bangladesh match at Adelaide.
Notably, there has been a section of people who have constantly called for Karthik’s exclusion from playing11 as he hasn’t scored well enough in this tournament. Against Pakistan, the designated finisher could score 1 run and lasted two deliveries, he didn’t come to bat against the Netherlands and against South Africa, Karthik lasted 11 deliveries and scored 7 runs.
In fact, a couple of experts reckon the services of Rishabh Pant would be more suited on Australian conditions as he has played a lot here in recent times. His explosive batting would give a boost to the Indian middle order. Moreover, he is a left-hander and will be a good asset to balance the side.
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KL Rahul Receives Coach and Captain’s backing:
Meanwhile, out-of-form KL Rahul is expected to replace his place in the playing11. Rahul’s bat has been quiet in the ongoing T20 World Cup. He scored 4 against Pakistan, and 9 apiece against the Netherlands and South Africa.
“I think in Rohit’s and my mind, there’s absolutely no doubt about who’s going to open for us,” Dravid said on the eve of the game against Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval. “No, not at all [concerned]. I think he’s a fantastic player and he’s got a proven track record. He’s done really well. I thought he’s been batting superbly. These things can happen in a T20 game sometimes. It’s been tough, it’s not been that easy for the sort of top order batsmen. This tournament has been pretty challenging.
“We have a lot of conversations with our players. A lot of it is — it’s hard to get into exact details of what conversations you have with your players, but rest assured, I think both in words and in action, I think over the last year he [Rahul] knows he has our support. He’s known that.”
Rahul will see the match against Bangladesh as his perfect setting to get some runs under his belt. If he manages to score a few runs, his confidence will get a boost which will further help him in upcoming matches against bigger opponents. In fact, in the next two matches, KL will look to make amends to his form and score plenty of runs.
