MSK Prasad admits selection issues caused confusion

Chief selector Prasad in Mumbai yesterday. Pic /Atul Kamble

Chief selector MSK Prasad yesterday came up with an explanation as to why middle-order batsman Rishabh Pant arrived for the World Cup in England when Shikhar Dhawan injured his thumb. He also elaborated on the reason why all-rounder Vijay Shankar was replaced with Mayank Agarwal.

"As per policy, I don't take press conferences during a series or mega events like World Cup, which has led to a lot of speculation. When Shikhar Dhawan got injured, we had already a third opener in KL Rahul [right hander] and we didn't have any left-hander at the top. Since KL Rahul was going to open the innings, the team management had requested for a left-hander and we had no other choice than Rishabh Pant. We were clear on that. We know what he is capable so that's why we had to bring in a left-hander - middle-order batsman in place of an opener confused many people," Prasad said.

Also read: MSK Prasad: Don't think we need to discuss more on MS Dhoni's World Cup performance

With regards to uncapped Mayank Agarwal getting called up, he explained: "I'm sure you all were following the matches, and would have seen KL Rahul having a big fall on the boundary line while going for a catch against England. He did not field for the rest of the innings. There was a medical emergency at that stage [and wondered]whether he will be continuing or not. That was so much of a worry factor. At that juncture, a mail was written to us that we need a back-up opener. We looked at some of the openers. Some were not in form, others were injured, so we went for Mayank Agarwal." Prasad was not ready to accept that India's No.4 batsman Pant failed to deliver."

Also read: MSK Prasad: I enjoyed Ambati Rayudu's 3D tweet

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