How Choosing Dinesh Karthik Over Rishabh Pant Behind Stumps Is Typical Rohit Sharma Captaincy

When the Indian T20 squad for the West Indies series was selected, the major talking point was the omission of the ‘irreplaceable’ MS Dhoni. Instead of MSD, the selectors put their punt on Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik.

The reason given by the selectors was that MSD was rested and they were looking at the second wicketkeeper option for the T20Is. But with contradicting reports emerging later, it seems they have possibly moved ahead. MSD is most probably no longer in the scheme of things as far as T20 internationals are concerned.

However, after the selection of two wicket-keepers in the squad, the veteran Dinesh Karthik and the young Rishabh Pant, it was uppermost in everyone’s mind as to who would don the wicket-keeper’s hat. Both of them are good batsmen.

Karthik is a solid middle-order batsman, who prefers safety over all-out aggression. Rishabh Pant is an explosive batsman who does not hold back, when it comes to expressing himself with the bat, much like a younger MS Dhoni.

As an experienced wicket-keeper, Karthik has kept wicket to a variety of bowlers.

As far as the wicket-keeping role is concerned, Karthik has kept to a variety of bowlers in his long career and hence is more adept in the art of wicket-keeping. However, at times he has not been that solid behind the stumps. His performance as a wicket-keeper in the 2014 Asia Cup had left a lot to be desired. His missed stumping of Kumar Sangakkara still rankles Indian fans even today.

On the other hand, Rishabh Pant is yet to develop as a completely dependable wicket-keeper. In his short international career so far, he has attracted eyeballs more for his batting than wicket-keeping. But there is a noticeable improvement in his wicket-keeping since the time he made his debut in England.

In such a scenario, al the eyes were on Captain Rohit Sharma as to who he would choose between the two as his preferred option for India’s wicket-keeper. This was a crucial decision because the chosen one would surely have a better chance of retaining his position in the squad as a wicket-keeper batsman, whereas the other would have to solely depend on his batting performances to be in India’s squad.

By choosing Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant in the Kolkata T20 for the crucial wicket-keeper’s role in the side, Captain Rohit Sharma has yet again proved that he prefers solidity over flamboyance in his team selection. Going by his track record as a captain so far, it is certainly difficult to argue with his selection choices.