Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his men suffered a humungous defeat by an innings and 159 runs in the second Test at Lords by the hosts. However, the Indian batsmen were seen surrendering in front of the veteran English bowlers except for skipper Virat Kohli after the first two matches.

Also, the senior wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has failed to replicate his recent form in the ODIs and T20Is. After scoring a quick-fire knock of 80 runs in the three-day warm-up match against Essex, he was included in the first two games in an attempt to provide him with a fair chance to revive his Test career as he was the highest run-scorer for India in 2007 series, in which he played as an opener. However, Karthik’s struggles with the bat and gloves so far have led to Dilip Vengsarkar supporting Rishabh Pant for the third Test in Nottingham.

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The former Indian cricketer has appealed to the Indian team management to include young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant in place of Karthik for the third Test match in Nottingham. He also mentioned that apart from Kohli none of the batsmen are willingly scoring runs in challenging conditions. 

During a conversation with BBC radio, Vengsarkar said, “Rishabh Pant should get in. Apart from Kohli, nobody has shown that they could score runs here. Whether it’s English or Australian conditions, you have to adapt quickly. You have to apply yourself and get runs.” 

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Pant has been in a good form in the recent India A series in England, where he smashed two half-centuries against the Lions. The India A coach Rahul Dravid also recently spoke about the southpaw’s determination and technique and felt that it is the right time for him to be part of the Indian Test team.