MSK Prasad Hints All Is Not Over For Dinesh Karthik Despite Omission From ODI Squad

MSK Prasad, chief of India’s selection panel, has hinted that Dinesh Karthik is not completely out of contention for a berth in India’s squad even though they are trying out Rishabh Pant.

Rishabh Pant’s meteoric rise in the game has coincided with Dinesh Karthik’s inconsistent showings. Not surprisingly, many feel that Pant’s inclusion in the ODI squad and Karthik’s subsequent omission spells doom for the latter. The selectors, on Thursday, announced the squad for the first two ODIs against Windies. And while Pant’s inclusion was the highlight, Karthik’s exclusion raised quite a few eyebrows.

While there are no questions over Pant’s selection given his performance this year, Karthik’s omission is really a tough one to accept.

Karthik had played all six matches in the Asia Cup and scored 146 runs at an average of 48.66. Since returning to the ODI side after a three-year gap in July last year, Karthik has scored 350 runs in 13 innings at an average of 50 and strike rate of 71.57. But it was not good enough for him to hold on to his spot in the team.

With just 13 ODIs left before the next World Cup,  Karthik’s exclusion from the team has raised a serious doubt over his future.

However, chairman of selectors MSK Prasad dropped a major hint that Karthik might just be in India’s scheme of things.

“It is no brainer who is our No. 1 wicketkeeper. In search of second wicketkeeper, we have given opportunities to DK and right now we are giving an opportunity to Rishabh Pant. At an appropriate time, we will take a call as to who is the best among the two,” Prasad said on Thursday.

In the bowling department, Mohammed Shami made a comeback to the team in place of Siddharth Kaul. Speaking on Shami’s inclusion, Prasad said:

“I have been telling this for a quite some time that we are just 18 ODIs away from now before we play first game of the World Cup and so we need to figure out our fast bowlers and so we have picked Shami.”

Meanwhile, the ODI series will get underway from October 21.