Three recent selection controversies that affected the Indian team

#2 Karthik in, Pant out

Rishabh Pant showed promise in the World Cup.

As fate would have it, the two men at the centre of another pre-World Cup selection controversy found themselves batting together to rescue India from dire straits in the semi-final against New Zealand. Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant were involved in a much-publicized conundrum before the Cup as to who would travel as the back-up 'keeper to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

In the end, the veteran Karthik, a decorated cricketer who captains Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, got the nod over the red-hot Pant who seemed to be in the prime form during the IPL and had seemed fresh and full of spirit in the limited opportunities he had got as an India player.

He had a highest score of 159 not out in Tests at an average of almost 50 and he was a breath-taking attacking option. In the end, Pant traveled to England after a spate of injuries and showed glimpses of his talent. Karthik just played two games and failed to cross single digits as a batsman, though, admittedly, he got out to a blinder against the Kiwis and got limited opportunities.

Yet, if you are looking at establishing Pant as the successor to MSD in all formats of the game, then why was he not the first-choice as the former's understudy in the World Cup? Wouldn't that have been the logical way to go about it? Only the selectors can answer that question.