‘He will be a proper middle-order batsman for…’ – Dinesh Karthik wants this star batter to replace Rishabh Pant for 2023 World Cup

Team India are going to kick off their three-match ODI series on 4 December 2022 in Bangladesh. After the 20-20 World Cup, they visited New Zealand and managed to win the T20I series followed by the ODI series loss. However, no senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Dinesh Karthik took a rest from that tour.

Meanwhile, after the World Cup, reports were there that Dinesh Karthik is going to be phased out gradually from the T20I setup. Even, though he is not a part of this Bangladesh tour. However, both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are available for this series. Now, Dinesh Karthik shared that KL Rahul should replace Pant as the number five in the Indian team for the upcoming 2023 World Cup. 

“KL Rahul will be a proper middle-order batsman for the fifty-over World Cup.” – Dinesh Karthik picked Rahul over Rishabh Pant

While talking to Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik said that there will be a toss between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant for the number five position. However, he preferred KL Rahul as the middle-order batter over Pant. He said: “(Number) five is where we need to discuss. There will be a toss-up between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant.” 

“I have a feeling that KL Rahul will play, for sure. Pant, I think, has taken a long flight from New Zealand and has landed as we speak. KL Rahul will be a proper middle-order batsman for the fifty-over World Cup. If that happens, they will fit him at number five,” Karthik added.

However, both these players failed to show their form in recent tournaments. Since his comeback, KL Rahul has failed to score in a consistent manner. In the 20-20 World Cup, he scored only 128 runs in six matches. While Pant also scored only nine runs in two innings in the World Cup. Even, in New Zealand, Rishabh Pant scored only 42 runs in four innings. So, this series will be a big test for these batters in the context of the 2023 World Cup.