For the umpteenth time, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik made his comeback to the Indian team during the ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa. The 37-year-old’s sensational form with the bat as a lower middle-order batter for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022 helped him return to the national set-up after a gap of three years. And with his outstanding form with the bat in full flow against South Africa as well, the veteran wicketkeeper-batter has strengthened his chances of making it to India’s T20 World Cup squad as well.
The right-handed batter scored his maiden fifty in T20I cricket for the Men in Blue on Friday (June 17) in the fourth game and helped India post a fighting total. His purple patch earned him a spot in the 17-member squad for the Ireland tour. And going into that series, in the absence of Rishabh Pant, who will join the Indian Test side in England, Karthik is likely to take the gloves as well.
In the Ireland series, Ishan, Samson and Karthik will be in the running for the place as wicketkeeper-batter and, according to former Pakistani skipper Rashid Latif, Karthik will take the stumper role and the other two will have to find their place as batters in the eleven. All three batters are in good nick at the moment, and it will be a difficult choice for the team management to pick between the three. But Latif feels that DK’s numbers with the bat lower down the order are a rarity in T20 cricket among wicketkeepers and that will make him the favourite for the job.
“Wicketkeepers are performing really well in world cricket at the moment. Samson has been performing really well but is a top-order batter. But when you look at lower middle order options, you have Dinesh Karthik. The numbers he has got are perfect for having him in a playing XI. It’s rare. And he showed it during his matches for RCB, batting with the highest strike rate down the order. You will find very few wicketkeepers who can do that in T20s. Karthik will be the one I will pick for the XI,” he said.
At present, India is flooded with a host of options for the wicketkeeper role. Besides Rishabh Pant, who is the first choice across all formats, there is Karthik, Ishan, and Samson. India also have a part-time option in KL Rahul, who has performed the job for the team in the past at the highest level
