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Cricket Players'You can't look past him': Karthik names India star guaranteed to accompany Kohli in middle-order against SL
Dinesh Karthik named the Indian player who is guaranteed to play alongside Kohli in the middle-order in the first Test against Sri Lanka.
Team India will be aiming to make a winning start to the two-Test series when it meets Sri Lanka in the first match in Mohali on Friday. The squad for the Test series sees a number of key changes reflecting on a transitional phase in the longest format; former vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were dropped from the squad alongside veteran bowler Ishant Sharma and wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha.
Pujara and Rahane vacate the no.3 and no.5 spots in the Indian batting lineup respectively. The selection committee put its faith on youngsters with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, and Hanuma Vihari being named in the squad for the Sri Lanka series. Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik believes that Iyer is guaranteed to play in the middle-order (no.5) due to his brilliant outing in his debut series against New Zealand in November last year.
“For me, one name that stands out is Shreyas Iyer. I think you cannot look past him. He has got a hundred on his debut and he has been fabulous,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz. Iyer scored 202 runs across four innings in the series against New Zealand.
Karthik further said that there will be a toss-up between Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari if the team management opts to play with a 6-5 combination (six batters, five bowlers).
“There are two ways to put it. If you're looking at a 7-4 combination (seven batters, four bowlers), then probably you will see a Shubman Gill batting at 3 with Vihari at 6 and Rishabh Pant to follow (Iyer at 5). But if they're looking at a 6-5 combination and they are going to play three fast bowlers, then it will be a toss-up between Vihari and Gill for number three. Other than that, it is pretty straightforward in terms of the XI,” said Karthik.
Former India pacer Zaheen Khan, meanwhile, believes that Gill will get a chance in the first Test.
“They would want to stick with the five-bowler combination. That's something which has been working for India and they haven't moved away from that. Shubman Gill is coming back now, I think he will get a chance again,” said Zaheer.
