'I'd pick him every day of the week' - Aussie legend picks India's T20 World Cup wicketkeeper
The race for the spot of wicketkeeper in India's T20 World Cup squad is getting interesting as multiple players have staked the claim with their performances.
The countdown for India's T20 World Cup selection has begun with selectors having a keen eye on the players involved in the IPL 2024. The race for the wicketkeeper's spot is picking up the pace with several quality options available.
Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, and Jitesh Sharma are the likely ones who are fighting it out for this spot. Recently, Dinesh Karthik threw his hat in the mix as well with stellar performances for RCB. Among all of these players, a maximum of two players are likely to be selected. One will be the first choice wicketkeeper while the other one is likely to be the backup.
In terms of run-scoring, Samson leads the list among these players with 276 runs in 7 matches, followed by the veteran Dinesh Karthik, who recently smashed 83 runs off just 37 balls to prove his hitting abilities. Karthik has scored 226 runs so far at an outstanding strike rate of 205.45, which is by far the most among all these players. Rishabh Pant comes next with 194 runs in six matches. He has been getting better with every game and seems to be a good choice for the spot. Pant is followed by Ishan Kishan in this list.
Ricky Ponting picks India's T20 World Cup wicketkeeper
Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has backed his team's captain Rishabh Pant to be India's T20 World Cup wicketkeeper. Pant has smashed two fifties so far and has a strike rate of 157.72. While speaking to PTI ahead of Delhi Capitals' match against Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad, Ponting revealed that he would have Pant in the squad every day of the week.
"Do I believe whether Rishabh should be there in the World Cup squad? Absolutely I do. He deserves to be in that WT20 squad by the end of the IPL, I think we have seen Rishabh play the way we have seen him play in the last six seasons of IPL and now back playing for India," Ponting said.
"One thing we certainly know is that there is a lot of depth around Indian cricket, with keeper batters and I feel some guys are in really good form at the moment. Kishan is playing well, Samson is playing well and KL Rahul is playing well, there's a lot of options there but if I was picking a team, I would have Rishabh Pant in it every day of the week," the former Australian captain added.
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According to some reports, Rishabh Pant is seen as the frontrunner to be in the T20 World Cup squad. Samson, Kishan, and Rahul are mostly top order batters and India have plenty of options there. Karthik, Pant, and Jitesh can bat in the lower order and have the ability to finish off an innings. While Karthik is at the end of his career playing his last IPL, Jitesh Sharma has been below-par this season.
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