LIVE TV
India
Recommended Stories
Bhubaneswar: It was assumed in the second test match at Centurion that the India team-management felt wicketkeeper-left hand batsman Parthiv Patel was better suited to the conditions as a batsman with his back-foot play because of which they dropped Wriddhiman Saha.
In spite of captain Virat Kohli clarifying that Saha had been left out because of a hamstring niggle, fans considered it a bluff to include Parthiv and strengthen batting that let them down in the first test match.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Dinesh Karthik as replacement for Wriddhiman Saha for the third and final Test against South Africa," the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement.
"He is set to join the team before the third Test."
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how opener Murali Vijay and wicketkeeper Karthik face each other during the match. Reportedly, both had been good friends for long but the friendship was ruined by Vijay in 2012 during IPL season 5 when Karthik came to know about his wife’s affair with Vijay. Karthik divorced his wife, Nikita while she was pregnant with a boy and soon after that Vijay and Nikita married each other.
Both Vijay & Karthik have kept quiet on this issue and steered clear from this issue. The trio has acted maturely and moved in life rather than acting as gossip material for media.
Karthik will be making a comeback in Tests after seven years as his last Test outing came against Bangladesh back in January 2010, although he did represent his country in 50 and 20-over matches as recently as December. Karthik has played 23 Tests since making his debut in 2004.
Let's see how the duo play together on and off the field at Johannesburg.
