16 years after his maiden T20I appearance for India, Dinesh Karthik scored his maiden half-century in the format with a scintillating performance against South Africa in Rajkot on Friday, helping the hosts win by a whopping 82 runs. Chain. Rishabh Pant, who is leading the Indian team in this current series, has shown signs of struggle amid Karthik’s excellent form. This has sparked a fresh debate on who should India pick for the T20 World Cup?
When the giants backed the 36-year-old star after his stellar performance in IPL 2022, the first question pertained to India’s primary wicketkeeping option. Pant played the role for a brief period with KL Rahul after the 2019 ODI World Cup. Recently, the team has added Ishaan Kishan and Sanju Samson. So Karthik had to show his immense skill to better help India in the area that troubled him for a long time – the lower middle order.
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In the four innings of the series so far, Karthik has scored 92 runs at a strike rate of 158.6 and a boundary rate of 3.8 balls. He has scored 84 runs in the death overs at a strike rate of 186.7 with fours in every 3.2 balls. On the other hand, Pant has scored 57 runs in four innings at a strike rate of just 105.6.
Asked on ESPNcricinfo whether Karthik has won Pant for the T20 World Cup squad, South African legend Dale Steyn without much thought replied, “Yes definitely.”
“Pant has got four chances now in this series and is making the same mistake. You can also say that good players learn from their mistakes…but he didn’t. And DK has come out every time and shown what a class player he is. I think if you want to win the World Cup, you pick a person who is in the form that that person is going to win you the World Cup. If he’s into purple patches and red hot, then pick the guy you are. Teams will pick reputation but DK is in such scintillating form, and if he continues he will be one of the first names written on the plane on India’s tour for the World Cup,” he explained.
Steyn also praised Karthik’s 27-ball 55 against South Africa on Friday.
“DK is in great form, looks like he is getting better and better. His wicketkeeping mentality is very good, he studies the game very well. He knows and understands what the bowlers are going to do and he really backs it up with good skills. ,
