India Today : Jul 04, 2019, 12:31 PM
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has urged Team India to persist with Rishabh Pant at No. 4 in the batting order for the upcoming matches due to his big-hitting abilities.Rishabh Pant, who came into the squad as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan, has been impressive in the two games that he has played so far, scoring 32 and 48 against England and Bangladesh respectively.Pant batted at the much-talked about No. 4 position in both games in Vijay Shankar's absence, who was also ruled out of the tournament with a toe fracture after the West Indies game."Rishabh Pant at No. 4 gives India the power option. If he bats badly, he is going to strike at 100. If he strikes well, he is going to strike at 140 and 150. I think that helps Indian middle order on good wickets," Michael Clarke told India Today.Clarke also liked the prospect of Dinesh Karthik coming into bat at No. 6 for India as he felt that the experienced Tamil Nadu cricketer has the ability to get going from the word go just like Hardik Pandya."I like the experience of Dinesh Karthik at No. 6, to be honest. He is another Hardik Pandya. He can walk out and hit a boundary of the first ball. I think that's a really good place to be for that Indian middle order."Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also have been in good form. I think he [kohli] is due for a big hundred. I actually think Pant compliments this top 7 really well," Clarke said.India became the second team after Australia to qualify for the semi-finals after they beat Bangladesh by 28 runs on Tuesday.The team rode on Rohit Sharma's 104 (third hundred in this World Cup) and useful contributions from KL Rahul (77) and Pant (48) to post 314 for 8 on the board.Jasprit Bumrah then starred with the ball as he picked 4 wickets while Pandya took 3 as India bowled out Bangladesh for 286 in 48 overs to register their sixth win of the tournament.India will next face Sri Lanka in their final group game in Leeds on Saturday (July 6).