Veteran Dinesh Karthik pipped young turk Rishabh Pant in the fight for the second wicketkeeper’s slot in India’s 15-strong squad announced on Monday for the ICC World Cup starting May 30 in England.
There were no surprises as the MSK Prasad-headed selection committee maintained continuity in their choices with the only topic of discussion being the second wicket-keeper. The 33-year-old Karthik got the nod ahead of the 21-year-old Pant despite an indifferent IPL campaign with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The other notable omission was Ambati Rauydu, whose form put him out of contention. Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar made it for his “three-dimensional” qualities.
Rayudu’s omission came as a surprise since Indian Virat Kohli had said on multiple occasions over the past year that the 33-year-old was the front-runner in the race for the World Cup No 4 spot. Sadly for the Andhra Pradesh batsman, though, he has been pipped by Shankar for the coveted position in India’s middle order.
On Tuesday, Rayudu posted an interesting tweet where he shared insight on how he plans to watch the World Cup.
Here’s how cricket fans and experts reacted to the initial news of Karthik over Pant on Twitter.
Support for Rayudu, Pant
Questions, questions
With inputs from PTi
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