Asia Cup 2022: Kris Srikkanth Makes Massive Claim On Dinesh Karthik After India Name Squad For Multi-Nation Tournament

BCCI announced India’s squad for the Asia Cup on August 8, Monday. Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant are both parts of the squad which has seen the return of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Rahul returns as the vice-captain of the side which is led by Rohit Sharma. 

There are some nominal omissions from the side which does not feature names like Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj. Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel are ruled out due to injuries. 

?#TeamIndia squad for Asia Cup 2022 – Rohit Sharma (Capt ), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, R Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Y Chahal, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 8, 2022

Notes –
Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru.

Three players – Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 8, 2022

Meanwhile, former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth in a conversation with Star Sports made a massive comment on Dinesh Karthik. His comments came after BCCI named the Indian squad. While picking his playing XI Srikkanth named Karthik as a ‘reserve batter’ a comment which has become controversial ever since he made it. 

Srikanth named India’s Xi starting with Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja. Karthik was not a part of his playing XI. 

Dinesh Karthik Will Probably Be A Reserve Batsman: Kris Srikkanth

 “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” said Srikkanth. 

Meanwhile, another former Indian cricketer Kiran More has included both Karthik and Pant in his playing Xi for the Asia Cup. He disagreed with Srikkant’s comments and stressed Karthik’s role as a finisher in this Indian lineup. 

“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,” said More. 

Talking about Dinesh Karthik. he made a return to the Indian T20I side after a brilliant IPL 2022 where he scored 330 runs from 16 innings with a strike rate of over 180 and aced the role of a finisher for RCB. Since his return to the Indian side, he has played a few important cameos, the recent being his unbeaten 41 off 19 balls in the first T20I against West Indies. He even won the Player of the Match award for his knock. 

Also Read: Asia Cup 2022: 3 Deserving Indian Players Who Missed Out On A Spot In India Squad For Asia Cup 2022