Team India's management have chosen to play veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik in place of Rishabh Pant in the three matches that have taken place in the ongoing 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. And one former player who has been impressed with the management's choice is Wahad Riaz.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has come under scrutiny for their selection choices, while skipper Babar Azam has also faced criticism for his decision-making. Riaz compared the Indian management's ability to decide fixed roles for their players to that of Pakistan and believes that the selection committee of his country should adopt a similar approach.
"Rishabh Pant is India's best wicketkeeper-batter since MS Dhoni. He even has hundreds in England and Australia. If he was in the Pakistan team, would he sit outside in a World Cup match? No chance. India kept him out for Dinesh Karthik. They know Pant is a good player who will score a lot of runs but he can't be a finisher. At that specific number, they need a finisher. Pant might hit a couple of sixes but if he fails to finish the game, India will lose. That's the way to go)," Riaz said in a chat on News 24HD.
After his heroics with India at youth level, a lot of people pipped Pant to take over the role of India's wicket-keeper batter from MS Dhoni. But he has not been able to do justice to his talent in limited-overs cricket. Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik has had a resurgence in this format and is now the designated finisher for India.
And Riaz's thoughts fell in line with another star Pakistani pacer Mohammad Amir, who said, "I agree with you (Wahab Riaz). The Rishabh Pant - DK example he gave is absolutely spot on. When Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out of the T20 World Cup, they brought in Axar Patel and not another bowler. India believes in match-ups," said Mohammad Amir, who was also one of the guests at the show.
