Rohit Sharma explains reason behind picking Rishabh Pant ahead of Dinesh Karthik against Zimbabwe

Rohit Sharma (Source: Twitter)

India has had a wonderful campaign in the 20-20 World Cup so far as they have won three out of their four games. They got a come-from-behind win against Pakistan by four wickets. Then, in their second game, they had a comfortable win against the Netherlands by 56 runs. They had a minor blip against South Africa as they lost a close game by five wickets after they were bundled out for 133.

Then they were on the right side of a close game against their cross-border neighbours Bangladesh. The Men in Blue won the game by five runs. In what was a game of two halves, India stormed back from the eighth over after the rain break as they picked up 6/79 and made sure they got the vital two points. They are playing a game against Zimbabwe today. Zimbabwe had a superb game against Pakistan, where they won a thriller in Perth, but other than that they have had a sore campaign. 

With regards to the playing XI against Zimbabwe, Rishabh Pant has come in place of Dinesh Karthik, and this is the solitary change to the Indian XI. This is what Rohit Sharma had to say at the toss, "One change, Rishabh Pant plays instead of DK, he is the only guy who hasn't played a single game on this tour, we wanted to give him a game," said Rohit.

We wanted to bat first as a team - Rohit Sharma

Talking about the game, Rohit said: "We will bat. It's the preference of the team to bat first, nothing to do with the pitch. We just want to bat first and give a chance to our bowlers to defend." "Nothing changes, we need to do well as a team," he added.

India earned a spot in the semi-finals of the 20-20 World Cup as South Africa was defeated by the Netherlands in a close encounter by 13 runs earlier. On the other hand, Pakistan became the second team from Group 2 to qualify for the semi-finals, having beaten Bangladesh by five wickets.