"No Place For Rishabh Pant": Ex-BCCI Selector's Huge Verdict On Playing XI For South Africa ODIs
India are set to play a three-match ODI series against South Africa, starting Sunday, November 30 in Ranchi.
- India will play a three-match ODI series against South Africa starting November 30 in Ranchi
- While talking about India's playing XI, Saba Karim said, "I see no place for Rishabh Pant at this stage"
- "Once you have decided to pick Tilak Varma in the XI, you see KL Rahul coming in as a wicketkeeper," he added
India are set to play a three-match ODI series against South Africa, starting Sunday, November 30 in Ranchi. The team will be making some forced changes as regular skipper Shubman Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer have been ruled out due to their respective injuries. While discussing India's possible playing XI against South Africa, former player and ex-BCCI selector Saba Karim said that there is no place for Rishabh Pant. He added that KL Rahul will take the position of wicketkeeper-batter in the team.
"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," said Karim on ESPNcricinfo.
He added that if India opt to include Pant in the playing XI, it will leave them with very few bowling options.
"So the other option is to play Rishabh Pant low down the order and play with only five specialist bowlers and get maybe Tilak Varma or Yashasvi Jaiswal to bowl two, three overs," the former India player added.
Karim further said that Tilak Varma is the perfect player to replace Iyer in the team.
"Tilak Varma is the right player to get in place of Shreyas Iyer, because then you have 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 said.
The second ODI of the series will be played on December 3 in Raipur, while the third and final game will take place on December 6 in Visakhapatnam.
India Cricket Team
South Africa Cricket Team
Rishabh Pant