Can Washington trump Pant?

CHENNAI: The Rishabh Pant vs Washington Sundar duel will be one of the most intriguing themes as Tamil Nadu take on Delhi in their first match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Super League phase at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.
Both batsmen have made impressive starts to their international careers in the shortest format and head into the domestic T20 competition on a high.
While off-spinning allrounder Washington has been frugal with the ball bowling at various junctures, southpaw Pant smashed a scintillating 32-ball century against Himachal Pradesh in the North Zone T20 League last week.
Although pacers K Vignesh and slinger Athisayaraj Davidson have been delivering consistently, TN could well go to their 18-year-old offie Washington, who has been effective with the new ball against left-handers, to choke opener Pant.
TN coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar said the option has certainly been discussed ahead of the contest. "It's a challenge to bowl against Pant. But we have our plans in place. We will try to stick to them. Using Washington against him is certainly a possibility. However, one has to understand that at times you need to be instinctive on the field against a dynamic batsmen like Pant and act according to the situation," Kanitkar told TOI.
There are no injury concerns in the TN camp, however, they will miss match-winner Dinesh Karthik, who has been called up as replacement for the injured Wriddhiman Saha for the third Test against South Africa.
Karthik was the most consistent batsman for TN, who were runners-up in the South Zone T20 League, scoring three consecutive fifties in five matches.
"Karthik will definitely be missed. However, this throws opportunities to other players who deserve to play for the state. All the boys are fit and are ready for the challenge," Kanitkar added.
Skipper Vijay Shankar has recovered and stroked a 16-ball 40 against Hyderabad to return to form, while B Aparajith, keeper batsman N Jagadeesan and hard-hitting allrounder R Sanjay Yadav have been registering crucial cameos at the death overs.
With Ranji Trophy skipper Abhinav Mukund out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury, TN may well go in with attacking opener K Bharath Shankar alongside southpaw Washington.