Rohit Sharma weighs in on the DK vs Pant debate

The Indian cricket roster is still in blazes as the debate rages on about who between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant should make the eleven. Karthik played all three games in the ongoing series where he batted for just eight balls out of which two went across the ropes, helping India to finish a cracker at Nagpur.

Rishabh Pant, on the contrary, got some important game time behind the stumps in the second contest but that wasn’t enough for him to establish himself with the bat in his hands. The Indian captain weighed in with his opinion about this crucial discussion as to the way forward for two of India’s hard-hitting wicket-keepers with two distinct sets of skills they bring to the table.

Speaking at the post-match conference, Rohit said, “I wanted both of these guys to have a number of games under their belt before the World Cup. When we went to the Asia Cup both of these guys were in the fray to play all games. But I just feel that Dinesh needs a little more game time. He hardly got to bat (this series). Just maybe three balls. So that’s not enough time. Pant also needs game time obviously. But looking at how this series was it was important for me to just stick to that consistent batting lineup.”

India will be up against the Proteas who will play a bilateral series against India, hoping to make amends after drawing the preceding fray despite going 2-0 up. Shedding light on what can be the potential change in approach, Rohit said, “I don't know what we're gonna do against South Africa. We just need to go and see their bowling, what sort of bowling lineup they'll play with, and who are the best guys for us who can handle that bowling lineup. It all depends on that. We want to be flexible in our batting.”

“So if the situation or if the thing demands that we need a left-hander, we will bring in a left-hander if we need a right-hander, we will continue to do that. But we'll try and manage those guys pretty carefully. I do understand that they need game time before the World Cup but there are only 11 players you can play, unfortunately”, concluded Rohit.