World Cup 2019: 3 reasons why India should play Rishabh Pant against Afghanistan

3. There is still room for experimentation

India face two relatively easy oppositions before going into the final fortnight of their World Cup campaign

The World Cup is not a tournament for experimentation. But if there was ever a chance for India to throw in a wild card, this is it.

On paper, India have two of their easier matches next up, facing Afghanistan on 22nd June and West Indies on the 27th.

While the team will have to put up with two forced changes (Vijay Shankar for Shikhar Dhawan, and Mohammed Shami for Bhuvneshwar Kumar) already, India should not mind making a third, voluntary change, before going into the final fortnight of the tournament with a sorted XI.

Playing Pant at this stage of the tournament is certainly a risk, but India has other back-ups even if things fall flat. If Pant fails to impress in either of these two matches, Jadhav can be brought back to the playing XI for India's match against England.

But if Pant gets a look in at all, with a clear cut goal conveyed to him by his captain, he would be able to express himself more freely and make a bigger impact.