Former spinner Maninder Singh criticized the selectors and management of Team India for backing veteran wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik for a long time. Karthik was part of India’s squad for the recently concluded T20 World Cup and was also preferred over Rishabh Pant in the opening matches of the tournament.
He returned to the Indian T20I set-up after an impressive performance in IPL 2022 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He played the role of a finisher in the IPL and displayed tremendous form with the bat, scoring 330 runs at a strike rate of 183.33.
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The Indian management also gave him the same role in the team but he failed to execute on bouncy pitches in Australia as India crashed out in the semi-finals after a 10-wicket defeat against England. However, Karthik was dropped from the XI for the semi-final clash after a poor show in the group stages.
The former India spinner criticized Karthik and said that the last time he finished a match for India was almost four years back in the Nidahas Trophy final.
“I don’t know how India supported Dinesh Karthik for so long. I saw him finish just one match, that too in the Nidahas final four years ago. Even in the T20 World Cup, he was backed with full force and seemed to be under pressure because of the finisher’s tag. So if someone is not performing then you need to make changes.”
In the opening match of the T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Karthik managed only one run against arch-rivals Pakistan. There was no change in Karthik’s performance after being dismissed for just six runs against South Africa. He played his last match of the tournament against Bangladesh and was able to score only seven runs in that match.
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Meanwhile, Maninder also criticized the selectors for not picking the wrist spinner for the ODI series against Bangladesh as he feels Kuldeep Yadav should get a longer rope in the Indian team.
“We have already committed the mistake of not playing a wrist spinner in the T20 World Cup and we are not taking any wrist spinner for the ODIs in Bangladesh tour. If you don’t play regularly with bowlers like Kuldeep, how do you know what he can offer with the build-up to the World Cup?”
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