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Srikkanth calls Dinesh Karthik 'reserve batter' in India's Asia Cup XI, Kiran More counters with epic remark
Moments after the squad was announced, former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth expressed his doubt over the selection of Dinesh Karthik in his India XI for the tournament while making a massive claim, but ex-India wicketkeeper Kiran More countered with an epic reply.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday announced India's 15-member squad for the impending Asia Cup. While the tournament will mark the return of former captain Virat Kohli and star batter KL Rahul, who had incurred an injury, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be missing out on the squad owing to an injury concern. Moments after the squad was announced, former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth expressed his doubt over the selection of Dinesh Karthik in his India XI for the tournament while making a massive claim, but ex-India wicketkeeper Kiran More countered with an epic reply.
At 37, Karthik has made a stupendous return to the Indian side. From shifting to commentary a year ago after falling out of reckoning from India's white-ball side, Karthik staged a superb comeback to the Indian side as a finisher. He proved his worth in the 2022 Indian Premier League scoring over 200 a strike rate in the slog overs and emulated the same for India as well, his most recent exploit being a fiery 41 in the Windies T20I series opener for which he even won the Player of the Match award.
However, Srikkanth, in conversation with Star Sports after the selection of India's Asia Cup squad, picked his playing XI for the tournament and opined that Karthik might only appear as a "reserve batter". He in fact expressed doubt over his appearance in any of the matches for India in Asia Cup.
After naming the first seven player of his India XI - Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja - Srikkanth said, “No.8 would have been Shami. I had picked Shami in my team. He's not there. So No. 8 would be Chahal. Medium pacers have to be Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh. Now I feel they will bring in Deepak Hooda as an extra floater. So between 7 and 8 it could be Jadeja or Hooda. Looks like it. That's the best combination. Because if you pick three spinners then you will get into problem. 3 pacers, three spinners - that would be a bit too much. Dinesh Karthik will probably be a reserve batsman. I don't know whether he will be in the XI. I have my doubts there.”
Kiran More, who was part of the panel, however disagreed with Srikkanth and opined that if Karthik is not picked in the XI he would rather not even be part of the team itself. More rather stressed on the importance of picking Karthik despite India having a wicketkeeper in Rishabh Pant.
“In my XI I have Dinesh Karthik. If he sits out then I wouldn't have taken him. I will play him. You have given him the finisher's role and he has played well and has won matches for India. Pant has scored runs in IPL but not elsewhere. He has struggled a bit. But he is a superb player. And Karthik, woh mere team me baithega hi baithega. I wouldn't go with Hooda. I will play Karthik, then Hardik and Jadeja,” he said.
The Asai Cup tournament will begin from August 27 onwards in the UAE.
