IND vs ENG T20 World Cup 2022: Why is Dinesh Karthik not playing today? 

Dinesh Karthik is one of the most experienced names present in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2022. However, the veteran wicket-keeper batter has not received a place in the Indian playing XI for the semifinal match against England on Thursday.

The team management has picked Rishabh Pant ahead of him for the big game in Adelaide. Karthik was a part of the Indian playing XI in their first four matches of the Super 12 stage. He scored only 14 runs in those matches, with his strike rate being 63.64.

Speaking at the toss earlier today, Indian captain Rohit Sharma subtly explained why they picked the left-handed Rishabh Pant over the right-handed Karthik. Here's what Rohit said:

"Yea, I mean, look. The kind of talent we have, like you said rightly, it was a tough one. We have gone with the same team. We wanted to keep the same team, keeping the dynamism of the ground in mind. What gives us the flexibility as well, so we have stuck with the same team that played against Zimbabwe."

Going by Rohit Sharma's words, it seems like the Indian team management has preferred Pant because of the ground dimensions. A left-handed option in the middle will also provide variety to the team and help them in tackling Adil Rashid's leg-spin.

Dinesh Karthik did not have a great series against England earlier this year

India v Australia - T20 International Series: Game 3 (Image: Getty)

It looks like India have also considered Dinesh Karthik's recent performance against England before making the tough decision. In the three-match T20I series against England earlier this year, Karthik scored only 29 runs at a strike rate of 93.55.

Rishabh Pant is playing the biggest match of his T20I career right now. It will be interesting to see how he performs today at the Adelaide Oval.