Anil Kumble makes straightforward forward choice between Pant & Karthik for T20 WC semis

Indian cricket legend and former Team India head coach Anil Kumble has weighed in his thoughts on the Rishabh Pant-Dinesh Karthik debate ahead of India’s semi-final clash against England at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday. While Rohit Sharma leads the Men In Blue into the semi-final against the Jos Buttler-led team, the selection debate concerning wicketkeepers Pant and Karthik has become one of the biggest talking points. It is pertinent to mention that Karthik played four out of the five Super 12 matches for India, while Pant featured in the playing XI only in one match.

Meanwhile, shedding his thoughts on ESPN Cricinfo’s T20 Time, the former head coach suggested India should go ahead with Rishabh in the semi-final on Thursday. “I think with the kind of change that they made, closer to the semi-final, India made that change with Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant, it is very clear that you need to go with Rishabh Pant. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have made that change,” Kumble told Cricinfo.

‘Hadn’t had too much of an influence on batting in this lineup’: Anil Kumble on Dinesh Karthik

Kumble highlighted the fact that Karthik hasn’t been influential with the bat so far in the tournament. “Because Dinesh hadn’t had too much of an influence on batting in this lineup. He didn’t get enough opportunities except for one of them. So I would certainly go with Rishabh and use that to India’s advantage because at the Adelaide Oval there will be some turn and Rashid is someone who can certainly bog down right-handers,” the former coach added.

Anil Kumble suggests Rishabh Pant can be useful against Adil Rashid

At the same time, Kumble emphasized on how Rishabh can prove to be a useful asset against English spinner Adil Rashid. “He is really good at that. He bowls really good googlies and Rishabh can take him on and that is something India will keep in mind,” Kumble said. While Karthik has hit only 14 runs in the four matches he has played, Pant returned with an individual score of three runs in the lone opportunity he received against Zimbabwe. In the meantime, the India vs England, 2nd semi-final at the T20 World Cup 2022 will get underway at 1:30 PM IST on Thursday.

India’s full squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami. Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur.