Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria believes Rishabh Pant should have been dropped from India’s squad for the T20 World Cup. Pant was included in India’s T20 World Cup squad, which was announced on Monday by the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel.
However, Pant hasn’t been consistent in the shortest format of the game and he hasn’t been able to grab his opportunities. The left-hander was dropped in the Group stage match of the Asia Cup against Pakistan as Dinesh Karthik was given a nod ahead of him.
However, when Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out with a knee injury, Pant was included in the final XI as the team management wanted a left-hander in the playing XI.
On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik was unlucky to miss out in the final XI as he has been consistently providing the finishing touches.
Kaneria explained on his YouTube Channel, “India is repeating the same mistakes. Pant has been selected because he has an impressive record in Australia. However, his recent form hasn’t been that great in T20 cricket.
“They also have Dinesh Karthik in the squad. But there’s no point in having him if he might not get a chance to play. They could have added an extra bowler instead.”
On the other hand, India also picked Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad for the T20 World Cup. Kaneria reckons the veteran off-spinner might not get many chances in the playing XI and feels the selectors should have picked Ravi Bishnoi, who is part of the reserve players list, in the squad.
“Ravichandran Ashwin might not get many games at the T20 World Cup as the pitches in Australia are more suited to wrist spinners. They have proved to be more successful on these bouncy tracks.
“This is why I feel that Ravi Bishnoi would have been a better pick than Ashwin. If India did want to travel with Ashwin, they could have named him as a standby.”
India will take on Australia in the first T20I at Mohali on September 20.
