India went
with Dinesh Karthik over Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper in its first Asia Cup
encounter where they take on arch rivals Pakistan. Both Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh
Pant have been in superb form in the T20I format. Karthik, 37, is way above the
24-year-old Rishabh Pant in experience. His recent form has also aided in Team
India choosing him over the youngster. Additionally, Karthik is also believed
to be better suited in the lower middle order of India’s tall batting order.

India won
the toss and elected to field first in its match against Pakistan. Ahead of the
match, Cheteshwar Pujara said that it was impossible to play both Dinesh
Karthik and Rishabh Pant in the match. He said India would have to choose
between someone batting at number 5 (Rishabh Pant) or someone at number 7 or 8
(Dinesh Karthik).

Also Read | Asia Cup 2022: Pant misses out vs Pakistan, Karthik starts for India

“So, I
would say, if you want someone at No. 5, Rishabh Pant is a better choice. But
if you want to have a batting line-up with a very good finisher who is likely
to play 10 or 20 balls and give you 40-50 runs, I think DK (Karthik) is the
better option,” said Pujara who is currently busy playing County Cricket in
England.

Dinesh Karthik
was India’s go-to wicketkeeper in the Saurav Ganguly era. It was Mahendra Singh
Dhoni’s entry in the international format that displaced him from the team.
Dhoni came, shone, became one of India’s most successful captains, Karthik,
however, labours on.

Also read | Asia Cup 2022: Virat Kohli’s top five innings against Pakistan

Dinesh
Karthik’s T20I numbers are solid. In the 47 T20 matches he has played, Karthik has scored 591 runs at an average of 28.14, good numbers playing in the lower middle order. His strike rate is 140.05. He also has one half-century in the format. 

At the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said, 

“Honestly, I don’t think the toss is that important, we are just here to play good cricket. We’ve played here in the IPL, so hopefully the pitch will be good. It was a tough call we had to take between playing Dinesh and Rishabh, Rishabh sadly misses out.”