Tricky Situation: Pant Or DK Against England In Semis?

Karthik, India’s Designated Back-Overs Specialist, Hasn’t Exactly Set The T20 World Cup On Fire. Could Rishabh, Who Finally Got A Game Against Zimbabwe, Be More Effective Against England’s Spinners In Thursday’s Semifinal In Adelaide?

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Adelaide: It was travel time for India’s cricketers on Monday as the team left Melbourne around noon to board the flight to Adelaide, where the focus now shifts to Thursday’s all-important semifinal against England.

At Melbourne airport, Virat Kohli headed immediately to the sushi counter while a few others, including captain Rohit Sharma, Deepak Hooda, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj instead checked out sunglasses and shades. Yuzvendra Chahal signed a few autographs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar sipped some coffee.

Even with the constant travel, the near-daily adjustment to different time zones and the challenges of rest and recovery in a fast-paced World Cup, the team looks relaxed, confident and in a good zone heading into the semifinals.

Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik, meanwhile, could be forgiven for having other things on their mind: this deep into the World Cup. With a knockout game looming, with all the talk being of the challenging conditions in Australia, are India now undergoing a last-minute course correction and punting on Pant instead of their designated finisher Karthik?

Coming into the Cup, India were very clear on Karthik’s role: he would keep wickets and explode with the bat in the last four or five overs. There was no space for the left-handed Pant, arguably the better keeper and more flexible batting option.