Can Pant hit his way through World Cup 2019 squad?

Pant vs Karthik debate is not about being the back-up wicketkeeper to MS Dhoni. It’s a sequence in line to find India’s middle-order reserves, where keeping abilities just doesn’t matter.

This is not about MS Dhoni. This is not even about who-after-Dhoni. This is about Dhoni’s backup guy. About the 15th member on the plane to London for the World Cup 2019. That’s exactly what the chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad said to everyone in the press conference justifying Rishabh Pant’s inclusion into the ODI team for two games. Or rather justifying the exclusion of Dinesh Karthik from the set-up.

The West Indies ODI series is spiced up at the possibilities of what Rishabh Pant can do in limited overs cricket, the mayhem he can cause in the middle-order to become the second wicketkeeper in the squad. But the bigger question is do we really need a second wicketkeeper for Dhoni, who is simply irreplaceable? Irrespective of his batting form.

Sample this before reaching any conclusion. Ambati Rayadu went to World Cup 2015 as the second wicketkeeper. KL Rahul has kept wickets full time in Test cricket. And then there’s Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli also have put on the big gloves just for fun, and Kedar Jadhav as well who was wicketkeeper through the junior and even in early part of his professional career.

In fact, Pant vs Karthik debate is not even about finding a new finisher. That topic is finished with Hardik Pandya, who brings in a balance into the team combination with his bat-ball abilities. 

India’s batting card in the first World Cup match looks like this at the moment: 1) Rohit Sharma 2) Shikhar Dhawan 3) Virat Kohli 4) Ambati Rayadu 5) MS Dhoni 6) Kedar Jadhav 7) Hardik Pandya.

KL Rahul as the third opener has booked his ticket as the 8th member in that 15. That leaves 7 slots in the squad — four seamers is the bare minimum in English conditions. Which leaves just three vacancies. Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja.

All slots are gone.

Maybe, the Indian team will cut down on one spinner. Maybe slash one seamer. And only then, do the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Suresh Raina or Manish Pandey come into the picture. Team India is looking for a middle-order back-up. Not a backup wicketkeeper. If the person concerned can also keep wickets, so be it.

Only Jadhav’s suspect hamstring can open up another slot. And knowing that hamstring, and Team India’s recent tryst with rehab, it can flare up anytime. And thus, India’s search for middle-order continues. Karthik vs Pant is not the race for second-wicketkeeper. Not likely.