Veteran finisher Dinesh Karthik has been receiving a lot of flak from all quarters as he failed to live up to the expectations during India versus South Africa match in the Super-12 stage encounter on October 30 (Sunday). While batting first, Team India suffered a massive batting collapse as Lungi Ngidi and Wayne Parnell wreaked havoc in the first innings.
While Suryakumar Yadav held the fort from one end, Karthik was expected to play the role of anchor and rescue the side from a tight situation. But the 37-year-old veteran wicketkeeper who has earned a reputation for being an excellent finisher could not capitalize on the situation and got dismissed after playing just 15 deliveries. Notably, Karthik only added six runs on the board before he handed a simple catch to Rilee Rossouw.
Post-match, several retired Indian cricketers voiced their opinion against the wicketkeeper batter, and few even suggested that Rishabh Pant must be given an opportunity in the playing 11.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag has also joined others and backed Rishabh Pant’s inclusion in the squad. While speaking on Cricbuzz, Sehwag said that Pant should have been part of the squad right from the start as he has played enough cricket in Australia, and also scored runs.
"This is not Bangalore pitch. Dinesh Karthik has hardly played any cricket in Australia. Rishabh Pant should have had batted instead of Deepak Hooda. Pant was the one who broke Gabba's pride with his legendary knock," added Sehwag.
Speaking of Dinesh Karthik, the veteran has now had a couple of poor outings under his belt as he could only score 1 and 6 runs against Pakistan and South Africa respectively. Meanwhile, Karthik suffered a back injury while keeping against South Africa and was replaced by Rishabh Pant in the second innings of the match. Team India will take on Bangladesh on November 2 at Adelaide Oval.