Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has backed Dinesh Karthik to be India’s back-up opener at the 2019 World Cup. Karthik was not picked in India’s ODI squad for the upcoming five-match series against Australia with the selectors giving Rishabh Pant a nod ahead of him.
Gavaskar said heading into the World Cup there should be flexibility in the team and backed Karthik as a back-up opener.
“There should be a flexibility in the team. Dinesh Karthik has opened in Test matches in the past so he can do it in ODIs too,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by India Today. However, the selectors went for KL Rahul for the opening slot after his couple of impressive knocks for India A.
Gavaskar also picked his 15-man squad where he put Karthik ahead of Rahul with Pant finding no mention in the list. Meanwhile, the former Indian captain also picked Vijay Shankar as a back-up all-rounder.
“I have 13 names in my mind who will surely board the flight to England and they are Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
“I think Vijay Shankar can be the 14th player. Seeing the swinging conditions in England, India can play two fast bowling all-rounders. But I am not too very sure of the 15th player. Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj have not been that impressive. Umesh Yadav can be an option and I think selectors must keep an eye on these three bowlers,” he added.
