India squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019 has announced yesterday. After the announcement, everyone was surprised by seeing Rishabh Pant was not in the 15-member squad. Instead of him, Dinesh Karthik was named in the squad. Rishabh Pant has come into the limelight after the 2016 U19 World Cup which was held in Bangladesh. He has been performing pretty well for the Delhi franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) so far and live up to everyone’s expectations.

On the back of his blitzy performances, he earned his maiden call up in the national team next year. He made his T20I debut against England at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Later, he made his debut in the longest format as well and eventually made his ODI debut against the West Indies. The 21-year-old has a great outing in Tests where he scored 696 runs in 9 matches so far. However, he has managed to score only 93 runs in five matches at an average of 23.25. But the good point is that his runs came with the strike-rate of 130.98.

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By seeing his strike rate and fearless attitude, everyone was hoping to see him in the World Cup squad; which is scheduled to be played in England and Wales from May 30. But Dinesh Karthik has been named in the squad in space of Rishabh Pant. However, the chief selector MSK Prasad has clarified behind the decision.

“Definitely a case where we debated in length. We all were in unison that either pant or DK will come in only when Mahi is injured. In an important game, wicket keeping is also important. That’s the reason we went with Dinesh Karthik,” Prasad said in the press conference in Mumbai.