The Indian team have featured in four matches in the ongoing T20 World Cup and Rishabh Pant has failed rot find a spot in the playing XI. Despite below-average performances, team India are constantly going with Dinesh Karthik. Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was surprised by Pant’s omission from the playing XI. According to him, Pant is a match-winner.
"I am really surprised that he is not playing. One, he is a match-winner; two, he is a left-hander, which they might need at different times through the middle order. I was reading through some of the quotes of Axar Patel that they are backing his batting if they need a left-hander in the middle to go up and play that sort of role. Two spinners mean it is hard for Rishabh to get in and play that role. India are a bit like Australia coming in; they never really knew what their best team was, probably because they never knew what kind of conditions they would get here," he said.
Ricky Ponting is the head coach of the Delhi Capitals side in the IPL that is captained by Rishabh Pant.
"But one thing I know about Rishabh Pant is that he is a match-winner, and we have seen what he has done in Australia before, in Test cricket and in white-ball cricket. But who knows? Maybe if they make it through, he might play one of the bigger games in the back end of the tournament."
The Men in Blue will face Zimbabwe on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Team India are placed at the number one spot with six points from four matches.
India Squad: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal.