Will Rishabh Pant replace Dinesh Karthik in Indian playing XI for IND vs BAN WC tie? Rahul Dravid provides huge update
Dinesh Karthik walked off with a back injury during South Africa's innings in India's previous match at the T20 World Cup on Sunday. Rishabh Pant kept wickets for India in the remaining five overs of South Africa's innings at Perth.
Rahul Dravid-coached Team India suffered a huge injury blow in the Super 12 stage of the ICC World T20 2022 when Dinesh Karthik walked off with a back injury during South Africa's run-chase of the 134-run target set by the Rohit Sharma-led side at the Perth Stadium. One of the oldest playing members of the Indian team at the T20 World Cup 2022, Karthik was replaced by Rishabh Pant, who kept wickets for India in the death overs.
With Karthik suffering from back spasms, Pant emerged as an automatic starter for the Indian side in their upcoming encounter against Bangladesh. At a time when Karthik's participation is in doubt, Indian head coach Dravid shared a crucial update about the availability of the senior wicketkeeper-batter on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at the pre-match press conference on the eve of the encounter, Indian head coach Dravid revealed that Karthik made a remarkable recovery in the build-up to India's match against Bangladesh. “Yeah, he's pulled up pretty well today. It was unfortunate had that spasm when he jumped to collect a bouncer. I think when he landed badly, he landed in a way that I think he just hurt his back a little bit. But with treatment and with the day -- this morning he's pulled up pretty well. He's come to training. So we'll be assessing it,” Dravid told reporters.
Karthik played a patient knock of 6 off 15 balls in India's five-wicket at the hands of South Africa on Sunday. Rohit-led Team India will meet Shakib Al Hasan's Bangladesh in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup on Wednesday at the Adelaide Oval. The former India captain and batting legend confirmed that the Indian think tank will take a call on Karthik tomorrow.
“We'll see how it goes, and we'll see how he pulls up tomorrow morning after a good practice session today. We'll put him through his paces and ensure that we've given him a good workout and then see how he pulls up tomorrow morning before making a final decision,” Dravid added.