Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar wants Dinesh Karthik as a backup opener at the World Cup to be played in England this year.
Dinesh Karthik was dropped from the ODI team for the upcoming ODI series against Australia, with the selectors deciding to give one more chance to Rishabh Pant before finalizing the squad.
He has been a regular member of the ODI side since Asia Cup but his mediocre performances in Australia and then in New Zealand proved fatal for him.
On the other hand, KL Rahul had a decent run against England Lions and has been included in the side as a backup opener. However, Gavaskar was not convinced and wants some flexibility in the team during the show piece event in England.
“There should be flexibility in the team. Dinesh Karthik has opened in Test matches in the past so he can do it in ODIs too,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by India Today.
Gavaskar also picked his 15-man squad preferring Dinesh Karthik over KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant.
“I have 13 names in my mind who will surely board the flight to England and they are Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav,” said Sunil Gavaskar.
Vijay Shankar and Dinesh Karthik were the two remaining names.