India pick Pant ahead of Karthik; Rahul recalled

Saturday, 16 February 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

India's Rishabh Pant during nets, Edgbaston, Birmingham, Britain, 31 July 2018 – Action Images via Reuters

MUMBAI (Reuters): Dinesh Karthik’s World Cup hopes suffered a blow on Friday after India named Rishabh Pant as the second wicketkeeper for next month’s home One-Day series against Australia.

With Mahendra Singh Dhoni assured of his place behind the stumps, 33-year-old Karthik has been optimistic of securing a back-up role, having also transformed himself into a lower order batsman who can float in the order.

India, however, opted for 21-year-old Pant, who, like Karthik, can play as a specialist limited-overs batsman and has been very impressive in the Test series in Australia.

Chief selector M. S. K. Prasad said having a left-handed Pant in the middle order suited the team, but added they were yet to decide on the back-up keeper’s slot.“Prior to this, we had series in New Zealand and Australia where Karthik was chosen because Rishabh had played four Test matches,” he said.“We wanted him (Pant) to get a good break. He played a couple of One-Day matches against England Lions, in which he did extremely well. Then we sent him to the T20 matches (in New Zealand). We want to give him a few ODIs also before taking a final call.”Like Karthik, spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was also overlooked for the ODI series against the reigning world champions, which is perceived as a dress rehearsal for India’s World Cup campaign in England later this year.

The successful wrist spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were the obvious picks for the ODIs and are set to travel to England where the two-times champions begin their World Cup campaign against South Africa on 5 June.

Opener Lokesh Rahul, despite his struggle for form and provisional suspension for inappropriate comments on a TV chat show, was named both in the One-Day and Twenty20 squads.

Captain Virat Kohli, who led India to their first-ever Test series victory in Australia and skipped the second half of the limited overs series in New Zealand, returns to lead the side.India host Australia for Twenty20 matches on 24 and 27 February before the five-match One-Day series kicks off in Hyderabad on 2 March.

India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Lokesh Rahul, Siddharth Kaul (first two matches), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (last three matches)

India Twenty20 squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Markande