'Pant or DK?' - Rohit Sharma clears stance over wicketkeeper choice for India ahead of semi-final against England

Rohit Sharma-led Team India is all set to lock horns with Jos Buttler’s England in the second semi-final of the 20-20 World Cup 2022. The men in blue have made it to the knockouts of the tournament following their successful campaign in the super-12 round winning four matches out of the five they played.

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Although, the Indian camp is also going through a selection headache regarding the wicketkeeper choice between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant. Notably, the 25-year-old young wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant got a chance to appear in the playing XI of the last match of India against Zimbabwe in the super-12 round.

But unfortunately, he couldn’t deliver an impact with his performance in the match against Zimbabwe and scored only 3 runs before falling prey to Sean Williams.

In the same line of events, skipper Rohit Sharma has come up to clear the air over India’s wicketkeeper choice against England in the all-important clash of the eighth edition of the 20-20 World Cup.

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We have told all the guys from the beginning that they have to be ready - Rohit Sharma

“Pant didn’t get a hit in the middle since the practice games at Perth (against West Australia XI). We wanted to give him some game time and we have told all the guys from the beginning that they have to be ready,” said Rohit Sharma to journalists during the pre-match press conference ahead Wednesday, the 9^th of November.

“It was also a tactical move because we wanted to give a left-handed batter a chance to tackle New Zealand and England spinners in the middle overs. Both Pant and DK (Dinesh Karthik) are in the fray to play tomorrow’s semifinal,” he added later.

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Later on, skipper Sharma also talked about the dimension of Australian grounds and the approach of the Indian team towards the same.

“Australian ground dimensions are a challenge for everyone. It is not easy for guys who have not played here before. But we have responded well to the pressure of playing at different venues. Adelaide has smaller side boundaries which are different from the last match we played at Melbourne. But will use the experience we got from playing here against Bangladesh,” concluded the Indian skipper.