After the 2019 World Cup, the MSK Prasad-led selection committee dropped a few players from the white-ball squads for the West indies tour, hinting that they are not in contention for the T20 World Cup in 2020. While many of them have regained their spots, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar are three players from the WC squad who are yet to play international cricket.
Dhoni has team management’s backing and will be an automatic selection if he does well in IPL or domestic cricket. Shankar’s all-round abilities keep him in contention. But for Karthik, the road is not easy.
The wicketkeeper-batsman is competing with Dhoni, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul for a place in the squad and will only get a chance as a batsman if he is able to make comeback. Despite being away from contention for nine months now, the 34-year-old is confident of making a comeback for T20 World Cup.
“My record in T20s has been good. A big tournament like the World Cup did not go exactly as per the plan. I could understand the one-day bit (being dropped from ODIs) but even now I would like to think that I stand a good chance in returning to the T20 side. I have done well even in the recent domestic games that I have played. I have no reason to doubt myself [that I can’t make another comeback],” he told PTI.
On the road to World Cup 2019, the wicket-keeper batsman was dropped twice – including the home series against Australia – but he pipped Rishabh Pant for a place in the WC squad. He scored 14 runs in two innings in the quadrennial tournament and was dropped for the West Indies tour. Karthik is yet to play international cricket since then.
Like Dhoni, Kathtik’s form in IPL 2020 could have seen him make a comeback into the national team (T20 format) but with the league being postponed for an indefinite period, he does not have many opportunities to impress the selection committee.
