Asia Cup 2022, India vs Pakistan: Why Dinesh Karthik was preferred ahead of Rishabh Pant
Team management finds utility of 'Finisher Karthik' more valuable as India continue to experiment in run-up to T20 World CupDUBAI: An interesting thing happened during the team huddle before India started with their warm-ups, around an hour before the match against Pakistan here on Sunday. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, the oldest player in the team, was asked to address the team first. Former captain Virat Kohli followed with a few words before incumbent skipper Rohit Sharma finished the pep-talk session, which was moderated by head coach Rahul Dravid. Dravid had joined the team in the early hours of Sunday, flowing in late after having recovered from Covid-19. Thirty minutes later, Rohit announced at the toss that Karthik had been preferred ahead of Rishabh Pant, the more regular stumper and current toast of Indian cricket. The decision came as a surprise to many.
