Saba Karim responds to Lyon's 'Paine is best wicketkeeper' comment; 'Pant before Tim'

Former India cricketer Saba Karim has questioned Australian spinner, Nathan Lyon, over his comment, where he had called the ex-Aussie Test skipper Tim Paine the "best wicket-keeper in the world". Karim, who himself has kept wickets at the international level, has said that he doesn't agree with Lyon's statement, adding that there are many wicketkeeper-batters in the world at the moment who he thinks are better than Paine. To back his point, Karim mentioned England cricketer Jos Buttler, Pakistan player Mohammad Rizwan, and Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, stating that he would put all of them before Paine. 

"Coming back to Nathan Lyon's statement, I somehow do not agree with him, there are two or three contenders in world cricket. If you look at Jos Buttler, he has been remarkable. Mohammad Rizwan has also been exceptional for Pakistan. I would put Buttler first, then Rizwan. I would also put Rishabh Pant before Tim Paine," Karim was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. 

Karim, however, said that Paine deserved to be part of the Ashes squad considering his past records. The former wicketkeeper-batter said now that Paine is out of the Australian squad, the selectors need to look beyond the 36-year-old cricketer. Karim suggested two players for the slot that has opened up after Paine's exit. Karim said he feels Alex Carey or Josh Inglis could make a good wicketkeeper-batter for Australia, adding "I would go for Inglis".  

Paine's resignation as captain

Paine stepped down as captain of the Australian Test team following revelations of his lewd text messages that he had sent to a former colleague at Cricket Tasmania. Paine addressed a press conference earlier this month, where he admitted to sending the inappropriate messages to his colleague in 2017 before he was appointed the captain of the Test side. He apologised to his family, teammates, and fans for his past behaviour. On Friday, Paine's manager issued another statement saying that the wicketkeeper-batter has decided to take an indefinite mental health break and that he will not participate in the upcoming Ashes series. Cricket Australia (CA) on Friday named Pat Cummins as the captain of the Australian Test team and Steve Smith his deputy. 

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