I would not have Dinesh Karthik in the T20 World Cup squad: Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has opined that he won’t have Dinesh Karthik in the T20 World Cup squad. Gambhir revealed he would like to see young players like Rishabh Pant and Deepak Hooda get selected ahead of the veteran wicket-keeper batter.

Meanwhile, Karthik was in splendid form in the recently concluded Tata IPL 2022 while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The veteran right-hander scored 330 runs in 16 matches at an impressive average of 55 and a blistering strike rate of 183.33 in Tata IPL 2022.

After his impressive performances in the IPL, Karthik was named in India’s T20I squad for the series against South Africa. The 37-year-old from Chennai scored 30 runs off just 21 balls in the second T20I to add the finishing touches for India in the second T20I against the Proteas.

However, Gambhir reckons Karthik should have batted ahead of Axar Patel, who batted at number six.

“It was very valuable (the knock), he has been doing that for the last 2-3 months for RCB. But, I was a bit amazed that Axar came ahead of Dinesh Karthik. I would’ve been happier if he had come ahead of Axar,” Gambhir said while speaking to Star Sports.

Former KKR captain added that it would not make sense to name Karthik in the T20 World Cup squad if he is not going to get his chance in playing XI.

“Too early to say. T20 World Cup is far ahead. He needs to consistently perform till then. But if he wants to bat only in the last three overs, things could get tough. India will definitely be looking at someone in the top 7 who can bowl and if Axar is batting at 7, the team would be a batter short.”

“In such a case I would not have him (Karthik) in the World Cup Squad. I would definitely have people like Rishabh Pant, and Deepak Hooda (in the team). We have got KL Rahul, we’ve got Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma. Once they come back, it’s going to be tough for Dinesh Karthik to find a place in the playing XI. If he doesn’t have a place in the playing XI, there’s no point giving him a place in the squad,” Gambhir added.

Gambhir added that he would prefer a young player in place of Dinesh Karthik. The former left-hander feels Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and KL Rahul will pick themselves for the T20 World Cup and they are a surety in the final XI.

“Once KL, Rohit, Surya, and Virat are back, I don’t see him in the playing XI. This will be your top 4 and then you’ll have someone like Hooda, Pant, Hardik, and Jadeja. I will have a younger guy (in place of Karthik) who is a better fielder on those grounds and can probably chip in with a couple of overs as well.” “Karthik, unfortunately, will have to miss out unless and until the selectors make a huge call and drop one of the top four,” he added.

India will take on South Africa in the third T20I at Vizag on Tuesday.