With the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 just a couple of months away, the Indian team management will be keeping a close watch on its players, their performances, form and fitness as they settle down on a final squad for the marquee event set to be held in Australia.
The resurgence of few seasoned stars and emergence of new talent has given the Indian selectors a happy headache. Among these hopefuls is Dinesh Karthik whose exploits in IPL 2022 led the calls for his India comeback and made him a prime candidate to make the trip to the Australian shores for the T20 World Cup.
Ajay Jadeja though has a slightly different take and thinks that Karthik’s inclusion in the eleven is conditional and depends on whether India play Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
“…if you want to play the way I have heard them (India)…aggressive (approach) then you have to pick differently. If Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma walk in, you need Dinesh Karthik at all cost. He is your insurance. But if you don’t have either of them then Dinesh Karthik has no work here. But yes I would not put Karthik there, he can have a seat beside me. He is very good as a commentator. But there, in the team, I would not pick him,” Jadeja said on FanCode.
With India ditching its conservative outlook for a more modern approach, Jadeja reckons that the team might have to do without Karthik and maybe even Kohli, unless he’s in form, in the T20 setup.
“If it’s (MS) Dhoni style, then add Kohli, Rohit and Karthik. But in modern-day cricket, you have to leave out Karthik. Maybe even Kohli depends on whether he is in form or not,” Jadeja said.
