During India’s preparations for the Twenty20 World Cup 2022, which will take place in Australia at the end of this year, veteran batter Robin Uthappa feels that Rishabh Pant and Deepak Hooda would compete with one another for the No. 5 slot in India’s playing XI.
After the Men in Blue’s middle order suffered losses to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2022, there was a lot of criticism sent in their direction. Pant and Hooda both failed in their responsibilities, which ultimately led to India’s elimination from the continental tournament.
What did Robin Uthappa say?
Not the way we wanted to finish the contest but we will be back in our hunt with more strength 💙🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/cQMnW8Ra1E
— Deepak Hooda (@HoodaOnFire) September 8, 2022
While the Indian think tank will look to settle their middle-order combinations in the upcoming white-ball series against Australia and South Africa, Uthappa believes that the No. 5 spot will be a toss-up between Hooda and Pant. While giving an interview to ESPNCricinfo, he stated:
“If I had to guess, I’d say that Rishabh and Hooda are tied for the fifth place. The only difference is that Hooda is hitting better right now, and he can provide you something with the ball as he did tonight. Other than that, everything else is the same. It just took him one ball to demonstrate that he can be helpful when it comes to bowling. Since he first began playing, India has won 16 of the 18 matches that he has played for them. Only two of his games have ended in defeat, and these were his most recent two contests.”
To the ones who always guide us to the right path, my heartfelt gratitude to the entire teaching fraternity.#TeachersDay. 🙏🏏👨🏫
— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) September 5, 2022
When they played Pakistan and Sri Lanka, respectively, Pant scored 14 and 17 runs, while Hooda could only muster 16 and 3. Both of these players will be competing for a spot in India’s Twenty20 World Cup team in the forthcoming series against Australia and South Africa. Thus they will have a lot to play for.
