Sunil Gavaskar indirectly slams Gautam Gambhir for DK’s place in T20 World Cup squad
Dinesh Karthik is losing most of his time with the Indian cricket team with match-winning efforts in the India vs South Africa T20 series. He hit another quick half-century to propel his side to victory in the fourth T20I vs the Proteas. Contrary to fans’ wish that Karthik should go to the T20 World Cup in Australia, former India batsman Gautam Gambhir had said that he should not be picked in India’s squad if his place in the playing XI is not guaranteed. Gambhir said that Axar should be preferred at No 7 as he brings with him the ability to bowl. And getting only 3 or 4 overs to bat at number 7 for Karthik will always be a tough scenario.
“It is too early to say. T20 World Cup is a long way ahead. He needs to perform consistently till then but if he only wants to bat in the last three overs, then things can get tough. India are definitely someone in the top 7. Will look at who can bowl and if Axar is batting on 7, the team will be less batsman,” Gambhir had said on Star Sports.
“So I don’t have him (Karthik) in the World Cup squad. I will definitely have guys like Rishabh Pant, and Deepak Hooda (in the team). We have KL Rahul, we have Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma. One Once he is back, it will be difficult for Dinesh Karthik to make it to the playing XI. If he does not find a place in the playing XI, then there is no point in giving him a place in the team.” Gambhir continued.
Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar disagrees with Gambhir and without naming him questioned his analysis on Karthik. Talking to Star Sports, he said that how does one know that his place is not in the playing XI. “I know people are talking about how you can get him into the team when he’s not going to play. How do you see he’s not able to play? He could be that guy Whoever you want. You look at form and not reputation, name and then you pick the guy,” Gavaskar said.