He has to be given an opportunity to... former World Cup winner makes a bold statement on Rishabh Pant in T20Is

Rishabh Pant (Source: Twitter)

Rishabh Pant has not had the smoothest of rides in the T20I format as he has not been given a preferred position to bat for India. Dinesh Karthik was preferred over him and he played only two games in the recently concluded 20-20 World Cup in Australia. He has scored just 970 runs in T20Is and has an underwhelming average of 23.09 and a strike rate of 127.12. 

Rishabh Pant was tried as an opener on a couple of occasions, but the management did not give him a consistent run and the experiment was eventually shelved. If Pant opens the batting, it will give India a left-handed option at the top of the order.

Speaking on Rishabh Pant, India batter Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz, "We know one thing for sure, Rishabh Pant's 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, stats also reflect that his strike rate is highest when he opens. He likes the field up, he likes to take on bowlers and put them under pressure."

It is difficult to not have Rishabh Pant in the T20 side- Dinesh Karthik

"I think Rishabh Pant 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." Karthik added.

This is what Karthik had to say about the current composition of the Indian T20 side: "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. Immediately we come down to Pant at No.5. Do we want him to bat there or let's see if we can give him the opportunity to open."