Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik. Credit: Getty Images

The young Indian National Cricket team wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has emerged as an all format player after her heroics in the Test series against Australia. However, he has failed to live up to the expectations once again during the fifth ODI against Australia getting out for 16 runs leaving his side in distress in the series-deciding clash. Meanwhile, soon after his dismissal fans questioned his place in the playing XI and many wanted Dinesh Karthik in the side.

The men in blues lost three games in a row to go 3-2 down in the five-match series against Australia. This is Virat Kohli’s first ODI series loss in him as a skipper and also India’ first series loss after going 2-0 up in a five-match series. After an early flourish by the Australian batsmen, Indian bowlers pulled things back to contain them go past 300 runs. Usman Khawaja continued his superb form to score another hundred – his second of the series while Peter Handscomb chipped in with a fifty. Besides, useful contributions from Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins helped Australia post 272 runs.

India vs Australia 2019: Twitter Trolls Rishabh Pant, Wants Dinesh Karthik in the Squad 1
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Pant or Karthik? Twitter decides

During the chase, the host nation never looked in line to chase down the target. Shikhar Dhawan departed early as skipper Virat Kohli tried to stitch a partnership with Rohit Sharma leading the charge. But Adam Zampa wreaked havoc picking three wickets in quick succession to throw India out of the game. Although Kedar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar added 91 runs for the seventh wicket, it was not enough to change the course of the game.

Meanwhile, this was an ideal opportunity for players like Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar to cement their berth for the World Cup. However, they let go of the chance, failing to stand up when their team needed the most. Besides, there were calls for inclusion of Pant in the World Cup but considering his recent performance it is highly unlikely that he will be in the 15-member squad. Moreover, there have been calls to include Dinesh Karthik in the squad as the second wicket-keeper. He also boasts a considerable amount of experiences with the bat which can come in handy in this kind of lengthy tournaments.

India vs Australia 2019: Twitter Trolls Rishabh Pant, Wants Dinesh Karthik in the Squad 2
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Twitter Reactions:

https://twitter.com/Azaan_Rizvi_/status/1105824691552468993

https://twitter.com/Kwitter_Nah/status/1104741457569566721

https://twitter.com/CalIMeDon/status/1105828182475841537

https://twitter.com/anuragkmr18/status/1105831633456893954

https://twitter.com/sj_cult/status/1105828208132440071

Ankush Das

I am an accountant by qualification, my parents thought their obedient son would study further to become a CA, but I had other things in mind. An ardent Cricket fan is following his passion and making...