Former Indian opener, Wasim Jaffer reckons that wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant does not find a place in the Indian middle-order going into the T20 World Cup 2022 scheduled to be taking place in Australia. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Jaffer said that Pant’s performances with the Indian middle order in T20Is are not up to the mark and that is why Dinesh Karthik should be played ahead of him.

India is set to host Australia in the first T20I match of the three-match series in Mohali on Tuesday, 20 September. While discussing the playing XI of the side, Wasim Jaffer said that he would like to see Axar Patel and Dinesh Karthik feature in the XI.

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Elaborating the same, Wasim Jaffer said, “I think Axar Patel has done really well in recent times, so I don’t know why India has not trusted him, because he has won matches with his batting.”

Asked to elaborate on the Rishabh Pant issues, the former opener said that it is something that the team management has pondered upon a lot.

Explaining some, Wasim Jaffer said, “India need to figure out whether Rishabh Pant plays or not. The Indian thinktank has been thinking a lot about putting Rishabh Pant in. He has been brilliant and we have talked about it many times. In Test cricket and in the ODIs, he has played series-winning, game-changing knocks, but that has not happened in T20 internationals or even in T20s.”

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He concluded, “So India need to figure out if they want to stick with Rishabh Pant in the top six or if they want to play Dinesh Karthik, who has done really well since the Indian Premier League. For me personally, Rishabh Pant does not fit in number 4 or 5. His best place is to open batting, which I don’t think will happen. I feel leaving out Rishabh Pant in the World Cup will be the best thing.”