End of the road for Dinesh Karthik even as Rishabh Pant gets a boost from the BCCI selectors
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Rishabh Pant (Left) and Dinesh Karthik (Right)
The speed at which Chetan Sharma, chairman of the BCCI selection committee, announced teams on Monday for tours to New Zealand and Bangladesh suggested he was in a hurry. Nothing wrong with that. After all, in 1987, he had taken a hat trick in the World Cup on this day in Nagpur. Wait, there is a catch to this. Very soon, a new CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee) will be in place as well as a selection committee. If not, there was no way the BCCI was going to announce T20 and ODI teams for the tours to New Zealand and Bangladesh. Four teams being named on one day was a record!
First things first. These days, the players ask for rest/break and get it. The surprising part is, on Monday, Rishabh Pant was named deputy to Hardik Pandya in the T20 format for the NZ tour. At the same time, Pant was also named as deputy to Shikhar Dhawan for the ODI tour to New Zealand. if Pant was not good enough to play in the ICC World Cup T20 in Australia, what has made him so popular and special now.
FIRST SPORTZ was the first to report Hardik Pandya needed an elevation and so did Pant. Both have happened. For the tour to Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will be back. The number of chances Rahul is being given, even a millionaire at the betting stills would be proud. Be that as it may, Rahul stands exposed as he has batted like a zombie in three matches till now in Australia. He obviously has the backing of coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour, himself a very mediocre player in his days.
Related: “It’s better to give him a break” – Dodda Ganesh passes his verdict on KL Rahul’s poor form
Dinesh Karthik dropped from Team India
The best part is Dinesh Karthik’s career is as good as over. He got injured in the match against South Africa and the back trouble is not going away soon. The BCCI remains tight-lipped about his injury/strain. but speculation has begun he has played his last international tournament for India. The BCCI selection committee, which was once described by Mohinder (Jimmy) Amarnath as a bunch of jokers, continues to flounder. Picking DK for the ICC World T20 was a wrong decision. If at all a deputy had to be picked and groomed, it had to be Sanju Samson.
Agreed, DK had an outstanding IPL in 2022. But then, if Wriddhiman Saha was told he was too old, the same logic applies to DK as well. There is not too much age difference between them. Saha was solid in the Test format, in terms of glove work. DK was being roped in as a finisher. His efforts, or the lack of it, in the World Cup, have finished him. T20 format is hard and unforgiving. Either you have to be a fitness freak like Virat Kohli or be a natural athlete who can prolong career with results. The DK we saw in the IPL and in the World Cup are like Jekyll and Hyde. Good luck DK. For the record, the age difference between Saha and DK is one year. Saha is 38.
India are already in the middle of a big tournament. The hurry in which teams were named on Monday gave an impression, they wanted the last selection committee to finish its job in a hurry. Pray, why would you be naming teams even when the halfway stage of the T20 World Cup has not been reached. Has DK been told his career is over? Well, niceties and the BCCI are alien to each other.
Then again, by naming Shikhar Dhawan as opener and ODI captain for the NZ tour, the BCCI is kind of clueless. They seem to be making the same mistake as in picking DK. Dhawan is not young and the time has come to groom players for the next World Cup (ODI format) in 2023. When MS Dhoni was captain, he used to say players going into a World Cup should have the experience of 100 ODIs under their belt. All that seems a thing of the past. Selection into Team India is like a revolving door. Some get in and for some the door slams on the face. Got it?
Also Read: ‘Absolute invasion of privacy’ – Virat Kohli fumes after leaked video of his hotel room goes viral
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S Kannan
(382 Articles Published)