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'I'm not disrespecting Dinesh Karthik here but...': Australia legend questions DK's role in India's Playing XI
With every passing game, the situation surrounding Dinesh Karthik is only getting more tense and interesting, with an Australia legend questioning DK over his place in India's Playing XI.
With every passing game, the situation surrounding Dinesh Karthik is only getting more tense and interesting. It is clear that the team management has shaped Karthik to be India's finisher for the T20 World Cup but on occasions, the way it has treated him with regards to his role in the role in the Playing XI has been rather baffling. For example, during the first T20I between India and Australia in Mohali, Karthik was held back and instead Axar Patel was made to bat ahead of him.
And while Axar could not get going, what it did was derail Karthik of any momentum as well as he perished after scoring six off five balls. The call to keep Karthik for the death overs and promote Axar ahead of him was met with plenty of flak, with former cricketers raising questions over the move. One of the many to have discarded the move is former Australia opener Matthew Hayden, who was quite taken aback and questioned Karthik's role in the team.
"I was just thinking about the role of Dinesh. This role Dinesh is playing now, for the life of me, I can't work out why he wouldn't be in their batting now. It doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. See. I don't want to give the impression that I'm disrespecting Dinesh Karthik but he should be batting more - it's actually the opposite," Hayden said on air.
Right after Hayden made the comment on live TV, Axar smashed a straight drive off Cameron Green. However, it was not enough to force Hayden to change his mind. The Aussie great stuck to his point of view and said that while Axar may have shown tremendous credentials with the bat lately, Karthik should get more ball time.
"I think he is such a good player that he can come in and play this exact same shot. I question the role that he is playing as a finisher. I think there is a role for him to come up the order," he added.
Hayden's sentiments were echoed by Ajit Agarkar. The former India fast bowler explained how it is important for India to utilise and get the most out of Karthik, more so because they have made it clear that they back the veteran wicketkeeper more in comparison to Rishabh Pant.
"I find it very strange with regards to Dinesh Karthik. He is a good enough batter to walk in now. Doesn't have to after the 16th over. And as improved as Axar Patel is, you have the expectation from Karthik to manage this sort of situation. At least you hope he does, considering he is playing ahead of Rishabh Pant as well in this XI. It happened in the South Africa series and again today, Axar is batting ahead of him," said Agarkar.
