“How do you see that?” – Sunil Gavaskar takes an indirect dig at Gautam Gambhir over Dinesh Karthik T20 World Cup comment
Former cricketer-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar has taken an indirect dig at Gautam Gambhir’s comment over Dinesh Karthik’s T20 World Cup chances. Earlier, the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup winner, Gautam Gambhir said that there is no point in picking Dinesh Karthik in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. The left-handed southpaw pointed out that if India could not find a place for Karthik in the playing XI then there is no point in taking him to Australia.
Now, following a match-winning knock from Karthik against the Proteas in the fourth T20I, Sunil Gavaskar has said that the 37-year-old batter is the “player India wants.” Sunny G also wondered how a player like DK is not going to find a place in India’s playing XI. And, the legendary batter also added that the players should be selected based on their form, not on reputation.
Don’t look at the man’s age, look at the performances: Sunil Gavaskar bats for Dinesh Karthik
“I know people are talking about how can you include him in the team when he’s not going to play. How do you see he’s not going to be able to play? He could be the guy you want. You look at the form and not reputations, names and then you pick the guy,” said Sunil Gavaskar on Star Sports while taking an indirect dig at Gautam Gambhir.
Dinesh Karthik currently is in a red-hot form as the veteran wicketkeeper-batter forced his way back to the national side after piling up consistent performances during the IPL 2022. He has managed to continue his form during the South Africa T20I series as well and emerged the ‘Player of the Match’ in the 4th game.
“He (Karthik) doesn’t get too many opportunities, bats at number six and seven. You can’t expect him to get 50 regularly. He’ll get you a good 40 in 20 deliveries and that’s what he has been doing consistently. He did the exactly the same thing again and that is the reason why he’s very much in contention for a place in the World Cup squad. The way he got runs today, India were down and out. Don’t look at the man’s age, look at the performances,” said Sunil Gavaskar about Dinesh Karthik’s chances for India’s World Cup squad.
On Friday, India levelled the five-match series 2-2 courtesy of a brilliant knock from Dinesh Karthik. The right-handed batter smashed 55 runs off 27 deliveries to take India to a match-winning total.
