Former India's explosive batter Virender Sehwag lambasted the Indian team management on the decision of dropping the veteran batter Dinesh Karthik in the T20 World Cup match against Zimbabwe.
Sehwag said that if the management has taken a chance with Dinesh Karthik, then they should've stuck with him for the entire tournament and backed him to the hilt.
India's wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was included in the playing XI in place of Karthik for Zimbabwe match on Sunday (November 7).
The Men in Blue cruised to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on Sunday, finishing as Group 2 toppers after beating Zimbabwe by 71 runs in their final Super 12 game.
However, India had already sealed a place in the last four stage even before the match had begun as Netherlands stunned South Africa, to assure India of a top-two finish in Group 2.
"Rohit Sharma said we wanted to give him (Pant) one game because we have already qualified for the semis. We don't need a finisher since we are batting first. You need a finisher when you are chasing. I was saying that India should've made Zimbabwe bat first. Rishabh Pant has played cricket in such conditions, both in red-ball and white-ball. As Ashish Nehra rightly pointed out that if he had scored a big knock, will India go form him or a finisher (Karthik)," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Sehwag added that dropping Karthik ahead of the semi-final won't be good for his confidence, especially if India decide to play him in the knockout game against England.
"If you have gambled on Dinesh Karthik for the T20 World Cup, then you've got to play him until the end of the tournament. Benching Dinesh Karthik won't be good for his confidence. He needs some confidence as he hasn't scored runs so far," he added.
Meanwhile, England, who finished second in their Super 12 Group 1, will clash with Group 1 toppers India on Thursday. India secured top spot in Group 2 on Sunday by beating Zimbabwe. They have arguably been the most impressive side in the tournament but were beaten by five wickets by South Africa during the group stage.
England's squad for T20 WC 2022: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Tymal Mills, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Alex Hales. Standby Players: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson.
India's squad for T20 WC 2022: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami. Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur.
