Rohit Sharma reveals reason behind playing Rishabh Pant against Zimbabwe

India will be heading to Adelaide Oval as the all-important semi-final clash will see India being pitted against the mighty England as the two powerhouses in the shortest format of the game will be hoping to secure their ticket for the grand finale of the T20 World Cup.

Rohit Sharma has so far been an exemplary leader for the Men in Blue and has made some impressive decisions that have so far kept India placed well in the tournament. India made a solitary change to their side where they brought in Rishabh Pant instead of Dinesh Karthik in their last group stage encounter against Zimbabwe.

Just ahead of their semi-final against England, Rohit was asked in the pre-match conference about the possible playing eleven and his response was once again bang on, underlining a few important tenets that the Indian management has followed in the tournament.

Rohit said, “Between Pant and DK, I said it before the last game, as well, Rishabh was the only guy who didn't get to play on this tour at all except the two games that we played in Perth. That was an unofficial practice game. But since then he hasn't had a hit, and he was the only guy who was missing some game time, so we wanted to give him some time and have some options, as well, whether if we want to make changes in the semis or the finals, we should be able to do that.”

He further added, “It would be unfair to just bring the guy from nowhere and make him play the game, so that was the thought. But again, at the same time we've told the guys right from the beginning that everyone needs to be ready for whichever game that they have to play, whether it's semis, final, league games. They've got to be ready for it.”

Rohit concluded by explaining the decision to include Pant against Zimbabwe, stating, “But yeah, it was a little tactical, as well, considering we were not knowing which team we would be playing in the semis before that Zimbabwe game, so we wanted to just give a left-hander an opportunity to counter some of the spinners who bowled in the middle for New Zealand and England. That was the thought, and we thought Rishabh was the guy for us to go and give him some time, as well. But again, what is going to happen tomorrow, I think I won't be able to tell you right now, but both of the keepers will be in play for sure.”