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'He will be proper middle-order batsman for the 2023 World Cup': Karthik's big remark on KL Rahul vs Rishabh Pant debate
Dinesh Karthik made a massive remark on the number five spot in the Indian ODI team as the side kickstarts the three-match series against Bangladesh on Sunday.
Team India returns to action on Sunday when the side takes on Bangladesh in the first ODI of the three-match series in Dhaka. The series also sees a comeback of some of India's senior players including captain Rohit Sharma, vice-captain KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, among others. However, there are some key playing XI decisions on certain positions and India's star wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik spoke on the same in detail ahead of the 1st ODI on Saturday.
The veteran wicketkeeper spoke about the no.5 in the Indian batting order, for which two players are likely to be in contention – KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. While the latter had been playing in the role for some time now, his performances have been far from impressive. Rahul, meanwhile, has largely played in the opening role in the fifty-over format even as he began his international career in the middle-order.
Karthik, however, believes that Rahul would be the better choice for the fifth spot in the order.
“(Number) five is where we need to discuss. There will be toss-up between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. I have a feeling that KL Rahul will play, for sure. Pant, I think, has taken a long flight from New Zealand and has landed as we speak. KL Rahul will be a proper middle-order batsman for the fifty-over World Cup. If that happens, they will fit him at number five,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
During the recently-concluded ODI series against New Zealand, Pant took part in all three matches and while the second game was washed out, he had scores of 15 and 10 in the first and third ODI respectively. Following his failure in the third ODI, a number of fans and former cricketers also called for resting the young wicketkeeper-batter.
Rahul, meanwhile, had been in a similar rough patch; he scored at an average of 21.33 in the T20 World Cup, registering 128 runs in six innings.
