"Playing all three seems difficult" - Saba Karim feels India star may not start against Bangladesh

Former Indian selector Saba Karim feels Team India may not be able to play Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant as well as KL Rahul together in their ODI series against Bangladesh, beginning on Sunday, December 4.

The Men in Blue have a good headache to address as Iyer has been in some unreal form of late in ODIs. However, with Pant being the first-choice wicketkeeper and Rahul being named as the vice-captain, it will be interesting to see what combination they go in with.

Replying to a Sportskeeda query during an interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network, Saba Karim explained why Iyer and Pant might start ahead of Rahul against Bangladesh. He said:

"Playing all three (Iyer, Pant, and Rahul) seems difficult because you have Virat Kohli coming back at No. 3. Suppose you put Shreyas at No. 4, then you're left with only two spots. I think India, as of now, are thinking of having at least a sixth bowling option from their top six. So I think that's the call the team management has to take."

He added:

"I look at Shreyas Iyer because he has done very well in the New Zealand series as well. So he should come and occupy the No. 4 spot. Then you're left with Rishabh Pant at No. 5 and then you need to have one more bowling option at No. 6."

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Saba Karim on Rishabh Pant's struggles for India in white-ball cricket

Rishabh Pant has been in a rough patch of form for the past few months. He initially lost his spot in the starting XI for Team India in the T20 World Cup and only played two games in the tournament.

Pant's woeful form in T20Is continued as he failed in both innings as an opener against New Zealand and also couldn't do much in the subsequent ODI series.

On this, Saba Karim stated:

"When he (Rishabh) walks out to bat in Test cricket, there is greater clarity in his mind and that clarity he needs to bring in white-ball cricket also. Having said that, he has performed well sometime back against England where he scored that match-winning hundred. So he is capable and it is just necessary for Rishabh to have that consistency in his batting exploits."

India's squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen.