MSK Prasad Reveals Reason Behind Rishabh Pant’s Exclusion From World Cup Squad
Apr 15, 2019 at 4:14 PM
When MSK Prasad announced the squad for World Cup 2019, the biggest name that was missing from the list was that of Rishabh Pant.
Why not?
He is the top-ranked wicket-keeper batsman in the longest format of the game and is considered to be the successor of MS Dhoni once he retires.
However, lack of experience and wicketkeeping skills, a point that MSK Prasad mentioned, went against him and Dinesh Karthik trumped Rishabh Pant to be part of the World Cup team.
Answering to why Rishabh missed out on selection, Prasad revealed that it’s DK’s wicketkeeping skills that got him the favour.
“Definitely a case where we debated in length. We all were in unison that either Pant or DK will come in only when Mahi is injured. In an important game, wicket keeping is also important. That’s the reason we went with Dinesh Karthik,” he said.
Apart from wicketkeeping skills, Karthik has also steered India out of tough situations on occasions, one of the other things that went in his favour.
Rishabh Pant could not capitalise on the chances that were given to him and in the end, he lost the race to Kartik.
It is also to be noted that Rishabh was given a chance in home series against Australia where Dinesh Karthik was dropped.
Talking of the team, Prasad also said that the team has all the basics covered and is one of the most balanced sides.
“In the team, we have the luxury of 7 bowlers. We have covered all the bases and this is one of the most balanced Indian sides for the World Cup,” he said.
Team India has three specialist pacers in form of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami.
Apart from that, Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar are two pace bowling all-rounders.
Shankar may not bowl in every match but his batting skills are good and he can bat in any situation.
Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja are three spinners in the squad.
Jadeja, the all-rounder, may not have had a good run with the bat in the limited-overs squad but he has done well in IPL.
His batting skills can also see him trump one of the other two spinners to get a place in playing XI.
The success of the team will heavily depend on the top three comprising skipper Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
Men in Blue play their first game of the tournament against South Africa on June 5.
Prior to that, they will face New Zealand and Bangladesh in practice matches.