T20 World Cup 2022: India's selection dilemma explained - Axar Patel VS Yuzvendra Chahal and Dinesh Karthik VS Rishabh Pant

There are a couple of areas of concern for the team – the first is the lack of form of Axar Patel and the benching of India’s leading spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal.

The second is the wicketkeeper-batsman conundrum – should India stick with Dinesh Karthik or continue with Rishabh Pant going forward?

First, let’s take a look at Axar Patel’s form. It hasn’t been good, and despite being an all-rounder, he’s barely made an impact with either the bat or the ball. However, skipper Rohit Sharma isn’t too worried about his showings.

“To be honest, not really worried as such, because he (Axar) hardly got to bowl in this tournament,” Rohit Sharma said in the pre-match press conference.

“Except that game against the Netherlands, he’s not bowled full overs of his quota, only because of the condition that has to offer."

“We’ve got four seamers who have particularly bowled all of their quotas, which means the spinners will not bowl their overs.”

Yet while Rohit Sharma publicly backed his player, other options are available to him – like Yuzvendra Chahal, a proven match-winner who’s warmed the bench.

And while it is true that Yuzvendra Chahal isn’t an all-rounder, India might be tempted to use Ravichandran Ashwin as a spin-bowling all-rounder and select Yuzvendra Chahal as the full-time spinner.

There is a risk of slightly weakening the batting if they choose to go that route. However, it would be better for the bowling – especially since Axar Patel has barely bowled through the tournament.

The other, perhaps more significant, is choosing between Dinesh Karthik and Rishab Pant. And both players have their pros and cons.

The pros for Dinesh Karthik are that he fits into the number six role perfectly, he can finish the innings well, and won’t disrupt the current batting order. The con is that his recent form has been poor.

The pros for Rishab Pant are that he adds a much-needed left-hander to the batting line-up and can be a match-winner. The cons are that he will require a slight rejig in the batting order. Oh, and his T20I form has been inferior.

One social media user cheekily pointed out that when watching Dinesh Karthik bat, we yearn for Rishab Pant, and while watching Rishab Pant bat, we yearn for Dinesh Karthik.

Nothing is more indicative of the Indian team’s current plight regarding the wicketkeeper position than this. And, as things stand, both are in the reckoning.

“For tomorrow, both of the keepers will be in play for sure,” is all Rohit Sharma said about who would get to keep their place.

One can’t help but feel that whatever decision the team takes about these dilemmas will perhaps determine their fate in the semi-final.