Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik? Dale Steyn picks one
Dale Steyn (Image Source: Twitter)
India made a tremendous comeback in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa as they leveled the series after losing the first two matches. Now, one match to go, and this series is level at 2-2. In the absence of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant was given the captaincy duties, and his leadership skills were impressive in the last two matches.
But, as an individual batter, he failed to deliver again so far in this series. In four innings of the series, Pant scored only 57 runs with a strike rate of 105.55. Even, in the last 10 T20Is, he crossed the 20-run mark only two times. On the other side, veteran wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik was given a chance in this series after his fantastic performance with his Bangalore franchise in this year’s Indian T20 League.
In four innings of this series, he scored 92 runs at a strike rate of 158.6. In the third T20I in Rajkot, he played a match-winning knock of 55 runs off 27 balls. Now, the former Protea pacer, Dale Steyn came out in support of Karthik by picking him up as his choice for India’s wicketkeeper for the upcoming mega event later this year.
“Skilled players should learn from mistakes he has not really” – Dale Steyn
Dale Steyn said that Rishabh Pant had been repeating the same mistakes and not learning from them. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he said: “Pant has now blown four chances in this series, and he appears to be repeating himself. Also, skilled players should learn from mistakes he has not really. And DK has demonstrated that he is a world-class player every time. I believe that if you want to win The world Cups, you should pick a player who is in excellent condition.”
He also added that India should pick a player based on his form, not by only reputation. “You select that guy if he is having a poor season and is red hot. Teams would choose based on reputation, but DK is in such good form right now that if he keeps it up, he will be among the first players on the airplane when India tours for the World Cup,” Steyn concluded.
Both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik will be in action again when India will lock horns with South Africa in the fifth and final T20I of the series in Bengaluru on 19 June 2022, Sunday.
