Sunil Gavaskar’s epic Hardik Pandya-Rishabh Pant World Cup T20 prediction for India XI vs. Pakistan
Sunil Gavaskar’s epic Hardik Pandya-Rishabh Pant World Cup T20 prediction for India XI vs. Pakistan
Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are two excellent alternatives for wicketkeeping for Team India in the T20 World Cup. On October 23, when the team plays its inaugural match at the prestigious competition against archrival Pakistan, just one is most likely to enter the field. Karthik was chosen over Pant for his “finisher” position in the most recent matches leading up to the World Cup. Since Pant is still the only left-handed player who can bat in the top five, many people believe that he should be included in the starting XI.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has endorsed both Pant and Karthik to play together if all-rounder Hardik Pandya can take on the role of the fifth spinner amid the surge of predictions regarding India’s playing XI against Pakistan.
On the Star Sports program “Cricket Live,” Gavaskar remarked, “It’s simply that maybe if they decide to go with six bowlers, with Hardik Pandya being the sixth bowler, he (Pant) won’t be able to find a position.”
“However, if they want to use Hardik Pandya as the fifth bowler, Rishabh Pant would get the chance to bat at number six and Karthik may play at number seven, then the four bowlers will come in. In such a case, it’s possible. All we can do is wait and see. They would undoubtedly prefer a left-hander in the middle, but with the top four in such excellent form, you could wonder how many overs Rishabh Pant will play. Will he get three or four overs? “These are all the instances they will look at and they’ll decide on this. And for three or four overs, is Karthik or Rishabh better?
Gavaskar also discussed the outstanding bowler from Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi, who caused chaos for Team India during the T20 World Cup the previous year. Shaheen bowled well against Afghanistan in the exhibition game, according to him, and seems to be back to full strength.
I believe that their biggest worry was over his physical condition and how he would look. And undoubtedly, he demonstrated his return to fitness in the two overs he bowled. So that is one headache less. They were a lot better with their catches, in my opinion, than what we witnessed against England, observed Gavaskar.
Their fielding on the ground was excellent. They have shown progress in the two areas that were causing them concern. So I don’t believe they’ll be confused when they play India on Sunday,” the former cricketer for India said.
