Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya will represent India in the upcoming T20 World Cup. (Twitter/BCCI)Dinesh Karthik, who was part of MS Dhoni’s led India that won the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, has been included for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Karthik, who had made a strong case for another India comeback with his stellar run in the IPL 2022, was playing the role of a finisher for RCB and the Indian team. He had the highest strike rate among the leading run-getters in the tournament scoring 210 runs in seven innings at 205.88.
Karthik has maintained that the motivation to play for India remains as strong as ever.
“The bigger vision was to play for the country. I know there is a World Cup around the corner. I want to be part of that World Cup desperately and help India cross the line,” he had said before adding,
“It’s been a long time since India won a multi-nation tournament. I want to be that person who is helping India do that. For that, you need to prepare differently, you need to be aware of so many things and try and be that player where people stand up and notice you and say, ‘hey this guy is doing something special and I wanted to be that guy.”
On Monday, after the All-India Senior Selection Committee revealed India’s squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia Karthik was elated after finding a place India’s T20 World Cup lineup. He expressed his happiness on Twitter and wrote,” Dreams do come true”. In reply to that, Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya commented, “Champion”.
Champion 🫶 https://t.co/8BjL0HRU2h
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) September 12, 2022
Karthik has also been added to the squad announced to will play the home series against Australia and South Africa.
India squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
India Squad for Australia T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd. Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
India squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.