Australian legends Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, and ex-India skipper Sunil Gavaskar have contrasting views on Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik. While the two Australia batters backed Rishabh Pant to be a part of Team India's playing XI during the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under, Sunil Gavaskar felt that the Indian think tank comprising captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid would do well if they featured both the wicketkeeper batters in their final line-up.

Sunil Gavaskar, Adam Gilchrist, and Matthew Hayden's views about Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant come at a time when Team India has only kept one of them in their XI with the former being given preference over the latter.

However, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden believe that India would be making a huge mistake if they didn't feature Rishabh Pant in their starting XI in the T20 World Cup, considering boundaries there are long and the 24-year-old can easily send the ball in the stands with his brute power.

Dinesh Karthik, meanwhile, may struggle to clear the ropes consistently as he doesn't have the kind of power the left-hander has in his arms.

“Yeah I see both of them playing. Hardik at 5, Pant at 6 or maybe Pant ahead of Hardik depending on the situation and Karthik at 7,” Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“His offside game. Same with Hardik Pandya as well. Look at how he has developed his off-side game. Bowlers will say he's got the power, so let's target his off-side. What Hardik Pandya is doing now is using the pace and hitting over deep point for a six, that's what Pant has got to do. Pant is a predetermined, premeditated cricketer. He decides quite often what he is going to do before the ball is bowled. That's why he gets into trouble as he looks for something which is not there,” Sunil Gavaskar added.

Matthew Hayden, however, didn't agree with his opinion and instead voiced his support for Rishabh Pant's inclusion in India's final XI in Australia.

“No, I don't think so. For me personally, it has to be Rishabh Pant. You need to bank on him for the T20 World Cup. If this was a longer version of the game, you might see otherwise. When you are playing in Australian conditions. You want the power. DK is a magnificent player when he can use the pace of the bowler and the pitch but MCG is a big ground. You need a proper monumental hit to clear the ground, especially the square of the wicket. So it's so key to have power hitters, at least 3-4 players who can hit the ball long. Rishabh has got that versatility. I'd like to see him play more orthodox, he's been lost in experiments for long now,” the legendary Australia opener said.

“I was just thinking about the role of Dinesh. This role Dinesh is playing now, for the life of me, I can't work out why he wouldn't be in their batting now. It doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. See. I don't want to give the impression that I'm disrespecting Dinesh Karthik but he should be batting more – it's actually the opposite,” Matthew Hayden elaborated.

“I think he is such a good player that he can come in and play this exact same shot. I question the role that he is playing as a finisher. I think there is a role for him to come up the order,” he stated.

Earlier, Adam Gilchrist too had argued in favor of Rishabh Pant, saying that the southpaw could destroy the best bowling attacks in the world and that's why Rohit Sharma shouldn't drop him from his side.

“The dare of Rishabh Pant and the courage for him, the way in which he takes on bowling attacks. I think he's got to be a must in that Indian line-up. They can play together, but I think Rishabh Pant has definitely got to be in there,” Adam Gilchrist told the ICC.

Adam Gilchrist was also in awe of Dinesh Karthik whom he dubbed as one of the most versatile players around as he can bat at the top, in the middle order, and can perform the duties of a finisher as well.

“It will be interesting to see if they can both play in the same team. I think they can. What they bring to a team…the versatility of Dinesh Karthik, he can play at the top of the order, he can, as he has done more so later in his career, be in the middle and late overs to finish. He has a really nice touch game,” the three-time World Cup-winning Australian wicketkeeper mentioned.