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Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra believes that the Men in Blue should have locked in their choice between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in the playing XI.
The Delhi-born wicketkeeper batter was not in the scheme of things much when compared to his senior but featured in both of the practice matches at the top of the order.
Pant's woes in the shortest format, especially in the middle order, have led him to a place on the bench. Karthik, who has been given the role of the finisher in the squad, has been a much more prominent feature in the build-up to the T20 World Cup 2022.
Claiming that India are still under-cooked if they are yet to decide between their two wicketkeeper-batters, Chopra said on his YouTube channel:
"Virat Kohli at No. 3, no doubt about it. Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik in the middle order. It is not a straight shootout between Pant and Karthik, if you don't know who out of these two will feature in your playing XI, then your preparation is still not done."
Pant was given a chance to find his touch courtesy of a promotion up the order in the two practice matches against Western Australia. However, the youngster failed to make the most of his chances and ended up with poor scores on both occasions.
"If you try to go hard from ball one, the team will be bowled out for 140" - Aakash Chopra
The eighth edition of the T20 World Cup 2022 went underway with the preliminary qualification matches on Sunday, October 16.
The opening matches at Geelong Park were far from high-scoring affairs, with bowlers getting enough help from the surface to make an early impression.
Opining that Team India will have to be watchful and tweak their approach a little considering the conditions on offer, Chopra said:
"I expect Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to open the innings, and they should give themselves time out in the middle because so far, there is help for bowlers on these pitches."
Chopra added:
"These are not 200-210 pitches, so if you try to go hard from ball one, the team will be bowled out for 140."
India will take on Australia in the first of their two warm-up matches on Monday, October 17, at The Gabba in Brisbane.
Who should be Team India's first-choice wicket-keeper at the T20 World Cup 2022? Let us know what you think.
