Going Back To Dinesh Karthik & Parthiv Patel Every Time We Have To Look Beyond Saha & Dhoni Not A Good Sign: Sanjay Manjrekar

Updated - 05 Mar 2018, 03:07 PM

Credits: BCCI

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Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar feels recalling Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel to replace MS Dhoni or Wriddhiman Saha is not the way forward as far as India’s wicketkeeping is concerned. Both Karthik and Patel have been selected by the selectors whenever the first choice keepers have been injured or rested.

32-year old Patel recently played in two of three Tests in South Africa recently when Saha got injured. On the other hand, Karthik has been included in India’s squad for the upcoming Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka. However, the reliance on Karthik and Patel has not pleased Manjrekar. The former batsman is now hopeful that the team management gives young Rishabh Pant ample chances in South Africa.

“That we keep going back to Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel every time we have to look beyond Saha and Dhoni is not a good sign. There seems to be a dearth of exciting quality ‘keeper-batsmen in Indian cricket today,” wrote Manjrekar in his column for The Times of India. “Best they give Rishabh Pant the whole of the Nidahas tournament to show that he can be that ‘hard to find’ talent.”

Many feel that Pant is the worthy successor of Dhoni. The left-handed batsman had taken domestic cricket by storm in the 2016-17 season. He had grabbed the headlines after slamming 308 off just 326 balls against Maharashtra in Ranji Trophy before following it up with a 48-ball hundred against Jharkhand which is one of the fastest first-class centuries by an Indian.

Pant had scored 972 runs in 2016-17 Ranji Trophy (Credits: Cricinfo)

He had gone on to finish the season with 972 runs in only eight outings including four centuries, a couple of the fifties and an amazing strike-rate of over 107. The southpaw soon got his maiden India call up for the T20I series against England last year. He was also a part of the team for the West Indies tour but has no played for India since then.

A poor Ranji Trophy further delayed his comeback plans before he roared back to form with a stunning show in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Meanwhile, Manjrekar further said that the Nidahas Trophy is a good platform for India to test their bench strength.

“Indian cricket is currently on an upswing and good teams use such times to plug holes that are not sinking the ship now, but are there nevertheless. India look well placed on the bowling front in white-ball cricket, both in seam and spin department. It’s the middle-order batting and finding the next generation ‘keeper-batsman after Dhoni, the areas that need to be addressed. [Suresh] Raina has made a promising comeback but to be sure that he is our safe option in the middle, he must continue his form. On comebacks, expectations are greater, because there are sceptics too who you need to win over,” he said.