Chief selector of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) MSK Prasad on Friday explained the reason why wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was included in the side in place of Dinesh Karthik for Australia ODIs.

Speaking about their decision to drop Karthik, Prasad said it was because of their rotation policy and workload management for the players.

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Pant was dropped from India’s ODI squad for Australia and New Zealand tour and now Karthik has been left out for the forthcoming series at home. However, Karthik has retained his position in the T20I series against Australia.

“Prior to this, we had series in New Zealand and Australia. That is where Karthik was chosen because Rishabh played four Tests and we wanted him to get a good rest,” Prasad told reporters on Friday, before adding, “Then he (Rishabh Pant) played a couple of matches against England Lions where he played extremely well. Then he played the T20I matches. So we wanted him to give him a few ODIs as well before we take the final call.”

Prasad also revealed that they wanted a left-handed batsman in the batting line-up and that tipped the scale in favour of the Delhi cricketer for Australia ODIs.

“We have included him (Rishabh Pant) considering the fact he is a left-hander. We will try and figure the best possible batting position for him. With a left-hander in the side, there is an advantage of left-right combination,” Prasad added.

India’s T20I Squad: Virat Kohli(Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Markande

India’s ODI squad for first two ODIs: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohamed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Siddharth Kaul, KL Rahul

India’s ODI squad for final three ODIs: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant