Australia great Ian Chappell is furious with Team India's selection in the ongoing T20 World Cup as he slammed skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid for picking Dinesh Karthik ahead of Rishabh Pant. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive batters in world cricket at the moment, Rishabh Pant has tasted immense success in Australia in the past.

During the 2019-20 Test series Down Under, the southpaw not only subdued the Australian pacers in Brisbane but also tormented them with his ultra-aggressive batting, making India the first team in history to register back-to-back series triumphs there.

Moreover, being a left-hander, Rishabh Pant will also add a different dimension to India's XI, considering all the batters in their line-up are right-handers.

If this wasn't enough, current wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik has been going through a slump and has hardly contributed with the bat. At times, even his wicketkeeping has also been under fire.

So far in the four matches that Dinesh Karthik has played in the T20 World Cup in Australia, he has managed to score just 14 runs with 7 off 5 deliveries against Bangladesh being his highest.

In the previous game against South Africa, Dinesh Karthik had a wonderful opportunity to bail India out of a tough position but failed to do so. Instead, he was heavily criticized for making 6 runs off 15 balls to put additional pressure on the batters coming after him.

“What has Tim David done at the international level? Sometimes, selectors pick players on domestic form, and I think India is a classic example. They are picking Dinesh Karthik ahead of Rishabh Pant
 ridiculous! I mean, Rishabh Pant should be playing every game. So, that's the tendency,” legendary Australian cricketer Ian Chappell told Sydney Morning Herald.

“I've been saying to wait on Tim David, let's play him after the World Cup, get him some international matches. Not just belt the average 120kmh guys, belt the 150kmh guys. Because that's not so easy,” he stated.

Ian Chappell's comments about Rishabh Pant went immediately viral on social media with many Indian cricket admirers echoing similar sentiments.

While some blasted Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid for not giving him an opportunity, others claimed that politics had engulfed the Indian dressing room and that's why the Uttrakhand-born cricket star was being kept out of the side's matches.

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Earlier, the legendary Virender Sehwag, 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev and former India all-rounder Madan Lal had urged the Indian team management, including captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid to include Rishabh Pant in the playing XI in place of out-of-form Dinesh Karthik.

“This should have been the case from the first day. Pant has played Tests and ODIs there, and has performed. When did Dinesh Karthik last play in Australia? This isn't a Bangalore wicket. I said this even today that Pant should've been in the team instead of Hooda, Pant has the experience of playing here. He broke Gabba's pride in his legendary knock),” Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.com.

“I want to say that since we have Rishabh Pant, now is the time India need him. It felt as if Dinesh Karthik would get the job done, but factoring in the wicketkeeping as well, I feel that if India have that left-hander option in the team, this team would look complete,” Kapil Dev said.

“Rishabh Pant has to play irrespective of whether DK plays or not. You have to give him encouragement if you want him to play. He is such a big batsman and you are just tossing him up and down like a coin. He is bound to lose his confidence. We all know he is a match-winner. So, Pant has to play, whether DK is there or not,” Madan Lal said in a conversation with India Today.

Meanwhile, former India tweaker Harbhajan Singh came out in support of Dinesh Karthik as he asserted that dropping a player of his caliber after just a couple of failures would be hard on him.

“Dinesh Karthik will get more chances because he is your finisher and he has scored runs for RCB at that position. So, it won't make any sense if they bench him,” Harbhajan Singh told Aaj Tak.

“When he walked off due to injury, I felt he would be replaced by Pant. But, if he is fit then definitely he will play because you have taken him to Australia for a specific role of a finisher, a spot where you won't bat Pant,” the legendary India spinner added.

“There are a few other players too who have failed, but just because they are big names, maybe that's why they aren't talked about that much. I feel if the top order is getting backed, then someone like Dinesh Karthik should also be backed. You shouldn't discard him on basis of just 2-3 failures,” Harbhajan Singh concluded.