With the T20 World Cup getting closer by the day, the discussions surrounding each team, their combination, their final playing XI are all getting heated. The cynosure if most cricket talk shows remain the possibilities around each T20 World Cup squad, which has almost been announced for all teams. Former India batter Wasim Jaffer too joined the bandwagon on Monday to remark on the Indian squad and the playing XI before making a strange statement on the Rishabh Pant vs Dinesh Karthik statement.
Jaffer's comment came in response to the discussion ahead of India's T20I series opener against Australia in Mohali on Tuesday. He opined that he would want to see Axar Patel and Dinesh Karthik in the playing XI before he elaborated on the Pant situation.
"I think Axar Patel has done really well in recent times, so I don't know why India has not trusted him, because he has won matches with his batting," he said.
The former India opener then remarked that the team management has to narrow down on whether Pant would play or not. He feels that while the young wicketkeeper-batter is a force to reckon with in Test and ODI cricket with impressive game-changing knocks, he has failed to emulate the same in T20s. And hence Jaffer went far to make the statement that India should leave out Pant for T20 World Cup as there remains no perfect position for the left-hander.
"India need to figure out whether Rishabh Pant plays or not. The Indian thinktank has been thinking a lot about putting Rishabh Pant in. He has been brilliant and we have talked about it many times. In Test cricket and in the ODIs, he has played series-winning, game-changing knocks, but that has not happened in T20 internationals or even in T20s," Jaffer said.
{{/usCountry}}"India need to figure out whether Rishabh Pant plays or not. The Indian thinktank has been thinking a lot about putting Rishabh Pant in. He has been brilliant and we have talked about it many times. In Test cricket and in the ODIs, he has played series-winning, game-changing knocks, but that has not happened in T20 internationals or even in T20s," Jaffer said.
{{/usCountry}}"So India need to figure out if they want to stick with Rishabh Pant in the top six or if they want to play Dinesh Karthik, who has done really well since the Indian Premier League. For me personally, Rishabh Pant does not fit in number 4 or 5. His best place is to open batting, which I don't think will happen. I feel leaving out Rishabh Pant in the World Cup will be the best thing," the former batter concluded.