IND vs PAK: India and Pakistan are locking their horns in the ongoing high-octane clash between the arch-rivals. Before the match started, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first on a pitch that is expected to assist pacers more. While there were no big surprises in the playing XI, however, the absence of Rishabh Pant from the team has left everyone stunned.
Since all the big players have returned back in the playing XI, there was a big question regarding the position of Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in the squad. There was no way that both the keepers could have been in the playing XI together and the Rohit Sharma decided to rest Rishabh Pant and go with the veteran Dinesh Karthik.
Even though Pant is a vital member of the Indian cricket team, he has been struggling to cement his place in the T20Is. At the time of toss ahead of IND vs PAK, Rohit Sharma had said:
“Honestly, I don’t think the toss is that important, we are just here to play good cricket. We’ve played here in the IPL, so hopefully the pitch will be good. It was a tough call we had to take between playing Dinesh and Rishabh, Rishabh sadly misses out. And Avesh makes it as the third seamer. This is an important game for us, but as cricketers we don’t want to think about the opposition, we just want to correct whatever mistakes we are doing. We are bowling first,”
Meanwhile, fans on social media were left stunned after the big move by the team management and in no time social media was buzzing with reactions from the fans and experts alike.
Among many, popular Indian commentator and analyst Harsha Bhogle also took to his social media and penned his thoughts about the same. In his Tweet, Bhogle highlighted how this move is a sign towards the favored line-up at the t20 World Cup. He wrote:
“Leaving out Rishabh Pant is a huge call and a sign towards the favoured line-up at the T20 World Cup. It is also an acknowledgement of how India want to play with DK as a power finisher. Don’t be surprised to see Jadeja at no 5 today, though.”
Check out the Tweet:
Leaving out Rishabh Pant is a huge call and a sign towards the favoured line-up at the T20 World Cup. It is also an acknowledgement of how India want to play with DK as a power finisher. Don’t be surprised to see Jadeja at no 5 today, though.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 28, 2022
Playing XI:
Pakistan: Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani
India: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
