Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Saba Karim believes Rishabh Pant might not get his playing XI in the three-match ODI series against South Africa. Pant has been added to the squad but he was not picked in the first ODI of the series at Ranchi.

KL Rahul has been taking the wicket-keeping duties in ODIs. Meanwhile, Pant has scored 871 runs in 31 matches in the 50-over version. Dhruv Jurel is also the other wicket-keeper in the Indian squad.

“I would love to see him in the XI, but I think the way the XI is going to be constructed, I see no place for Rishabh Pant at this stage. He comes in because Shubman Gill is not there in the side and once you have decided to pick Tilak Varma in the XI, you see KL Rahul coming in as a wicketkeeper-batter. Then, you have the all-rounders coming through,” stated Karim, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Karim said Tilak Varma is the right player to be handed an opportunity in place of vice-captain Shreyas Iyer. Varma has scored only 68 runs in four ODIs but played a match-winning knock in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan.

“Tilak Varma is the right player to get in place of Shreyas Iyer, because then you have a very solid top order with Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, number three Virat Kohli. Tilak Varma has shown immense promise so far in white-ball cricket. This is a good opportunity for him to come good even in one-day cricket. So, I see Tilak Varma at number four,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad got his opportunity in the final XI but the right-hander was dismissed for eight runs after he batted at number four in the opening game. India posted 349 runs in the first ODI after Virat Kohli scored a fine knock of 135 runs, which is his 52nd ODI century.