Dinesh Karthik last played an international game in 2019, but Rohit Sankar argues that the 36-year-old can fulfill a niche role — that India probably don’t realise is vacant yet — in the T20I side for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
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In a recent interview with News18, Dinesh Karthik argued his case for a place in the India T20 side, citing that he thought he “had done phenomenally well for India in T20s up till then, but because the World Cup did not go well, I got chucked out of the T20 as well.”
The word “phenomenally” in particular stands out. Karthik isn’t just one of the many players with an arguable case for India in T20Is; while he was in the team, he was one of their best players. The wicketkeeper batsman is still churning out the runs for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, and explained how “India definitely needs a finisher there”.
The numbers back up Karthik’s argument. Since 2019, India’s lower middle-order (positions No.5 to No. 7) — that boasts the likes of Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja among others in a similar role — have had middling returns in T20Is, faring well below a lot of top tier teams heading into the T20 World Cup. The combined batting strike-rates of India’s lower middle-order is less than 130, whereas teams like England, South Africa and New Zealand, amidst other Associate teams, edge closer to the 140 mark.
