T20 World Cup 2022: “It’s not that we ever lost confidence in Rishabh” - Rahul Dravid opens up on Pant getting a game against Zimbabwe

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has asserted that the management never lost confidence in Rishabh Pant, although Dinesh Karthik has been preferred as the first-choice keeper-batter in the T20 World Cup 2022. He explained that team selection is determined by multiple factors, adding that they have complete confidence in all 15 players picked in the squad.

Pant was chosen in the playing XI for India’s T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match against Zimbabwe at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, November 6. This was the left-handed batter’s first game in the tournament

Asked about the decision to pick Pant ahead of Karthik, Dravid explained at the post-match conference:

"Yeah, I mean, it’s not that we ever lost confidence in Rishabh. We have got confidence in all of our 15 players in the squad. It’s only 11 guys who can play. It depends on the combination that you have to play. The very fact that they are here and part of the World Cup means that we have a lot of confidence in them. It means that any time we can call them to play.

"When you pick 15 from so many other options, that means you have got a lot of confidence in this 15. Yes, some people, sometimes, miss out.”

Pant could not utilize his opportunity and was dismissed for three, caught in the deep while trying to take on Sean Williams. Despite his failure, Dravid backed Pant’s choice of stroke. He explained:

"He has been traveling with us. He has been batting a lot in the nets, doing a lot of keeping practice and keeping himself ready. It didn’t kind of work out today after we gave him an opportunity. I am absolutely not bothered at all. I think he took the right option. His role was to take on the left-arm spinner which was there, sometimes, it comes off and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Stating that the think tank doesn’t judge people in one game, the 49-year-old added:

“Sometime, whether we play a player or not is not based on one game. It’s based on match-ups and what are the skills we need here or going ahead. A lot of things go into these kinds of decisions.”

India batted first in the game after winning the toss. There wasn’t much pressure on them since they qualified for the semifinals after South Africa lost to the Netherlands. Admitting that the Men in Blue were keen to try out a few things, Dravid elaborated:

“(Among) a couple of the things we did want to achieve was to try and bat first. We bowled first against Pakistan when we came here. We just wanted to experience what it was to set a score in these kind of conditions. Also, we felt that if we batted first, it would give us an opportunity to play 20 overs and get into that ability of trying to get a par or par-plus score.

“It gave us an opportunity to play Rishabh, keeping this game in mind as well, but also just keeping the future in mind, just opening up our options. I think everyone is available for selection. Just because somebody missed out in this team, it doesn’t mean that we can’t go back to him."

While Pant was dismissed early, half-centuries from KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav lifted India to 186/5 against Zimbabwe. The bowlers then did a good job of bowling out the opposition for 115.

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“We’ll have to go and see” - Dravid on whether Chahal stands a chance of playing in the semifinal

India will be playing their semifinal match against England in Adelaide on Thursday, November 10. Pitches at the venue have offered assistance to slow bowlers.

Asked if leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal stands a chance of playing versus England, Dravid replied:

“We have a completely open mind about everyone in our 15. Anyone who comes in from the 15 will not potentially make us weaker because of the kind of squad that we have picked. We’ll have to go and see.

“I watched some of the games and I know the tracks are slow; they gripped and turned a bit. We might be playing on a completely different strip in Adelaide. I can’t sit here and predict.”

India have preferred Ravichandran Ashwin in all five games of the T20 World Cup 2022 so far. He has claimed six wickets, three of them coming against Zimbabwe.