Rishabh Pant went one step closer to living his World Cup dream when the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) chose him ahead of Dinesh Karthik for the upcoming Australia series.
Rishabh Pant went one step closer to living his World Cup dream when the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) chose him ahead of Dinesh Karthik for the upcoming Australia series.
The Indian cricket board announced India's 15-member squad for the five-match ODI and two-match T20I home series against Australia on Friday. While Pant was included in both ODI and T20I squads, Karthik was picked just for the shortest format.
While Pant is yet to justify his talent in the 50-over format, Karthik, in the last one year, has done everything that would take to make the cut of the ODI team. However, the veteran was criticised for his on-field decision-making during the lost final T20 International against New Zealand in Hamilton. He refused a single when Krunal Pandya was on a rampage at the other end.
Karthik later justified the call by saying that he was confident of pulling off a six which didn't happen as India lost by four runs.
While it was uncertain why was Karthik dropped from India's ODI team, the Indian cricket fans did not hesitate a bit to express their displeasure over this move as they exploded on Twitter soon after the squad announcement was made on Friday:
The Australia series begins with the T20I series followed by the 50-over format. Although the selectors announced two different teams for the first two and last three ODIs, the side that is expected to travel to England will be the one for the last three games of the series.
The Australia series starts February 24 with the first T20 International in Visakhapatnam, while the World Cup is scheduled from May 30.
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 "Dinesh Karthik vs Rishabh Pant")
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