Gautam Gambhir's No-Nonsense Take On 'Rishabh Pant vs Dinesh Karthik' Debate

Gautam Gambhir feels team India needs a sixth bowling option in their playing XI and that's why it is not possible for them to play both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in playing XI.

Rishabh Pant vs Dinesh Karthik debate: BCCI's 15-member squad for T20 World Cup 2022 had almost the same players who were picked to represent the nation in the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2022. Fit-again Jaspit Bumrah and Harshal Patel are back on the team, replacing Asia Cup players Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan. Sadly, senior in-form all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja is set to miss the mega tournament due to injury, probably this was his last ever chance to play T20 World Cup for team India. Jadeja's absence saw Axar Patel getting picked for the T20 WC 2022.

However, the big debate over India's best playing XI still remains the same. One of the biggest talking points is who to play between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in India XI. Both are remarkable wicketkeepers, competing for one spot. Karthik's inspiring comeback has threatened Pant's position in team India.

Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir feels team India needs a sixth bowling option in their playing XI and that's why it is not possible for them to play both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in playing XI.

“You can't do that. If you do that, you will miss out on a sixth bowler and you will not go into the World Cup with five bowlers. You need to have a backup. Unless you drop someone like Suryakumar Yadav, or KL Rahul has a bad tournament.. you can push Rishabh Pant to open the batting. Otherwise, I don't see both of these players in the middle-order,” said Gambhir on Star Sports in a virtual press conference.

“To start with, Rishabh Pant. Because I have said it in the past as well, you don't pick a T20 player only to play 10-12 balls. There is no guarantee that he is going to win you games. And Dinesh Karthik, unfortunately, has shown no interest in batting in the top-5. Your wicketkeeper has to be able to bat in the top-5 and Rishabh Pant has that quality to bat at any number for that matter,” Gambhir added.

“I will definitely have Rishabh Pant in my batting order. I don't believe in the notion that you need a left-hander in the middle-order. That's not the criteria, especially in a side like India. The criteria should be the ability to win a game, and Rishabh Pant has that. So yeah, Pant to start with at no.5, Hardik Pandya at 6, Axar at 7 and see if you want to Ashwin at 8, followed by three seamers," he concluded.