ICC World Cup 2019: 3 Reasons why India must pick Rishabh Pant ahead of Dinesh Karthik

India's final 15 member ODI team for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England has been the talk of the town for quite some time now. Most of the spots in the final 15 are already sealed.

Players like Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are almost guaranteed a place in the final 15 member squad, provided they are fit.

However, 2 or 3 spots in the final 15 member squad are still up for grabs, like the spot for the second all-rounder, where there is competition between Ravindra Jadeja and Vijay Shankar. There are also a couple of spots in the middle order for which there is tough competition between the likes of Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.

However, the biggest fight is for the spot of the second wicket-keeper batsman in the squad, between the new sensation Rishabh Pant and the veteran Dinesh Karthik.

With MS Dhoni continuing to be the preferred choice for the wicket-keeper's slot in the playing XI, the fight between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant is for the second wicket-keeper batsman's slot. It is most likely that only one of the two will find a place in the final 15 member squad for the World Cup.

However, there is a slim chance that both of them will get the nod and be in the final 15 member squad, as they have the pedigree to play as pure batsmen in the playing XI.

In this article, we look at 3 reasons why we think Rishabh Pant should be chosen ahead of Dinesh Karthik in the final 15 member squad.

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#1 Current Form with the Bat

Rishabh Pant with his idol MS Dhoni

Rishabh Pant has been in tremendous form with the bat. He had an awesome test series in Australia, where he finished as the second highest run scorer. Although Pant has not played enough ODIs, it can be expected that he will be able to replicate his test match form in ODIs as well.

On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik's performance with the bat has been average. Although he has played one or two important innings, he has struggled to score runs in seaming conditions and bowler friendly pitches.

Karthik, who has mainly played in the middle order, has struggled to score runs in matches where the top order failed. In England, the pitches are likely to be seaming and swinging ones, and therefore Rishabh Pant will definitely be a better choice than Dinesh Karthik, because of his ability to score in those playing conditions.

#2 Ability to Score Big Runs

Dinesh Karthik in the New Zealand v India - ODI Game 3

Both Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant are very good finishers in the shorter format of the game and have the ability to score quick runs.

However in addition to the big hitting ability, Rishabh Pant also has the ability to play big innings, as he has shown in his test career. On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik has always struggled to score big runs in his ODI career.

He does not even have a single century in his 90 match long ODI career. As both of them are most likely to play as specialist batsmen in the presence of MS Dhoni, it is better to have a batsman in the middle order who is not just a good finisher, but can also score big centuries.

Considering this aspect, Rishabh Pant should always be a preferred choice over Dinesh Karthik.

#3 Age Factor and ability to play fearless cricket

Pant is only 21 years old whereas Dinesh Karthik is 33

Dinesh Karthik is 33 years old already, while Pant is only 21 years old and his career is on the rise. So if Pant is selected ahead of Dinesh Karthik, it will also be a step towards the forward direction.

There is no better stage to launch a talent like Rishabh Pant than the ICC World Cup, which is the biggest tournament in the game of cricket. As Rishabh Pant is relatively new compared to Karthik in ODIs, the opposition teams will find it difficult to attack his weak points as a batsman.

Moreover, being a younger player, Pant will be more agile in the field and behind the stumps. Rishabh Pant's freshness will also enable him to play fearless cricket, whereas Dinesh Karthik will have memories of previous poor English tours with the bat at the back of his mind.