India’s T20I setup has moved into a new direction under the coach-captain duo of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma. The journey began with a 3-0 clean sweep over New Zealand at home and moving ahead, the think tank will focus on preparing a roadmap for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
From a vast pool of talented young and experienced players, selecting a squad is not an easy task. The job gets tougher when it comes to locking the final XI.
Meanwhile, India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has picked the toughest spot in the format that is up for the grabs. In a conversation with Cricbuzz, the veteran cricketer said there is a fight for the position of a back-up opener amid the presence of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
“That time will tell. Among all those slots that are up for grabs, the toughest spot in the third opener. There are some terrific names. People all the way from Shikhar Dhawan, Rituraj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Ishan Kishan, I can throw you a few more names. That’s the strength of Indian cricket and the beauty is we have two solid openers, arguably two of the world’s best,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
Among the five players he named, Karthik put his weight behind Ishan Kishan who got to play in Kolkata on Sunday. The former opined that the Jharkhand youngster has been in good form and scored well for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and in the T20 World Cup warm-up game, highlighting that he got just one game in the mega ICC tournament.
“Whoever comes in either has to fit themselves in at No.3, but Virat Kohli will again return and reclaim it. So, the only chance is being a back-up opener. Ishan Kishan in all fairness has done a fabulous job in the last couple of matches for Mumbai Indians and in the practice matches although he did not get opportunities in the T20 World Cup. So, he has been in good nick.
“The problem with the third opener is that you get only one opportunity. After this we don’t even know when the next series will be. By that time, some other guy comes and scores because he played a few good domestic matches. That’s the headache of being an Indian cricketer. You have to be consistently performing,” Karthik concluded.
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