File photo of former India opener Virender Sehwag© AFP
The Rohit Sharma-led Team India reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on Sunday, finishing as Group 2 toppers after beating Zimbabwe in their final Super 12 game. However, India had already sealed a place in the last four stage even before the match had begun as Netherlands stunned South Africa, to assure India of a top-two finish in Group 2. Against Zimbabwe, India included Rishabh Pant in the playing XI, dropping Dinesh Karthik - who had been India’s wicketkeeper in the earlier matches. Former India batter Virender Sehwag, however, wasn’t impressed with the team management’s strategy. Sehwag said that if the management has made a gamble on Karthik, then they should’ve stuck with him for the entire tournament.
“Rohit Sharma said we wanted to give him (Pant) one game because we have already qualified for the semis. We don’t need a finisher since we are batting first. You need a finisher when you are chasing. I was saying that India should’ve made Zimbabwe bat first. Rishabh Pant has played cricket in such conditions, both in red-ball and white-ball. As Ashish Nehra rightly pointed out that if he had scored a big knock, will India go form him or a finisher (Karthik),” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Sehwag added that dropping Karthik ahead of the semi-final won’t be good for his confidence, especially if India decide to play him in the knockout game against England.
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“If you have gambled on Dinesh Karthik for the T20 World Cup, then you’ve got to play him until the end of the tournament. Benching Dinesh Karthik won’t be good for his confidence. He needs some confidence as he hasn’t scored runs so far,” he added.
India will take on England in the second semi-final at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
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