'It's a massive surprise'- Gautam Gambhir on Rishabh Pant's snub

Gautam Gambhir and Rishabh Pant [Image Credits- Twitter]

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was left surprised with the Rohit Sharma-led management's decision to bench Rishabh Pant for the ongoing Asia Cup encounter against Pakistan.

The Indian management made heads turn when skipper Sharma revealed at the Toss that Dinesh Karthik will play ahead of Pant.

Speaking on Star Sports, Gambhir termed it as a surprising move as he believes that the 24-year-old southpaw adds X-factor to the batting unit.

Gambhir also added that the axing of Pant from the playing XI makes India's right-handed heavy batting one-dimensional and vulnerable against left-arm spin.

Here's what Gambhir said:

"It is a bit of a surprise because Rishabh Pant has been an X-factor. You need a left-handed batsman in your order. India have a lot of right-handers there, which is one-dimensional. And he has done reasonably well. He can be someone who can open the game for you and he can be a floater as well. A bit surprising but I hope it is not long-term. I will still back Rishabh Pant ahead of Dinesh Karthik. It's a massive surprise."

Mohammad Nawaz' double strike pegs India back

Meanwhile, India's batters' vulnerability against slow left-arm orthodox was once again exposed on Sunday as Mohammad Nawaz knocked over Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to bring Pakistan back in the game.

Rohit, who struggled to put bat to ball during his 18-ball stay at the crease, smashed Nawaz for a six in his 1st over but, in an attempt to do an encore, he perished.

Kohli looked brilliant against pace as he smashed some eye catching strokes during his 34-ball 35 but he too was guilty of throwing his wicket away to Nawaz.

At the time of writing, India were 75/3 in the 12th over. This is after sensational spells from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya helped the Men in Blue knock over Pakistan for 147.

Also Read- Hardik Pandya hails team management for India’s winning run