He is a terrific player: Dinesh Karthik heaps praise on Rishabh Pant

As Team India looks forward to making a fresh start against New Zealand in the upcoming bilateral series, a lot of questions are being asked about India’s batting order that will be missing the likes of KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

With the holy trinity given a break, it is expected that Rishabh Pant will be a big name to watch out for in the inimical shores of New Zealand. However, there is still a lot of blur around his exact batting position considering the fourth and the fifth position being occupied by Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya respectively.

RCB’s Finisher Supreme, Dinesh Karthik had a few words for Rishabh Pant ahead of India’s second T20I. He believes that Pant is tailor-made for a certain position that could enhance India’s prospects while also bringing out the best in the hard-hitting southpaw.

Speaking on Cricbuzz, Karthik said, “When it comes to Rishabh Pant, I think he has sealed his spot in Test cricket and to a large extent in ODI cricket as well. In T20s, he bats in a different position for his franchise and comes in a different spot in the Indian team and they are trying to figure out where to fit him. When you have Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, where do you fit in a Rishabh Pant? We do need a left-hander, but where do we play him? We know what Kohli does at No.3. Let's not even talk about Suryakumar Yadav, he's the best in the business in the world.”

He further added, “Immediately we come down to Pant at No.5. Do we want him to bat there or let see if we can give him the opportunity to open. Because we know one think for sure, his ability to play shots. And when the field is up, he can go gung-ho in the powerplay so we can give him the opportunity to open. Interestingly, his strike rate is highest when he opens. He likes the field up, he likes to take on bowlers and put them under pressure. He is second to none when it comes to stroke play and has baffled a lot of international bowlers of high pedigree. We need to embrace the fact that there will be a few failures from him, but he is a terrific player.”

India will be playing the second T20I tomorrow that will be convened at the Bay Oval as both the teams would be desperate to prise out a result after the first contest at Wellington got washed out.