Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has been making most of his lost time with the Indian cricket team with match-winning efforts in the ongoing India vs South Africa T20I series. He smashed another blistering half century to take his side to a victory in the 4th T20I against the visitors.
Contrary to the wish of many cricket buffs that Karthik should go to the T20 World Cup in Australia, former India opener Gautam Gambhir had said that he should not get picked in the India squad if his place is not guaranteed in the playing XI.
Gambhir said that Axar should be preferred over DK (as he is popularly known among his fans) at No.7 as the all-rounder brings a different variety of bowling ability with him. As per Gambhir, Karthik only getting three or four overs to bat No.7 will always tough for him.
"It's too early to say. T20 World Cup is far ahead. He needs to perform consistently till then but if he wants to bat only in the last three overs, things could get tough. India will definitely be looking at someone in the top seven who can bowl and if DK is batting lower down the order, the team would be a bowler short,” Gambhir had said earlier.
"In such a case I would not have him (Karthik) in the World Cup Squad. I would definitely have people like Rishabh Pant and Deepak Hooda (in the team). We have got KL Rahul, we have got Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma. Once they come back, it's going to be tough for Dinesh Karthik to find a place in the playing XI. If he doesn't have a place in the playing XI, there's no point giving him a place in the squad," Gambhir further said.
However, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar disagreed with Gambhir and without naming him questioned his analysis on Karthik.
"I know people are talking about how you can include DK 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 player," Gavaskar said.