Dinesh Karthik posts an emotional Tweet after his inclusion in the 20-20 World Cup squad

The Indian Cricket Board on Monday announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming 20-20 World Cup in Australia. There were surprise changes in the squad from the Asia Cup 2022 squad where India were knocked out before the final. Rohit Sharma will be leading the team in his first world event as captain and KL Rahul will be his deputy. The selectors also went ahead and picked Ravichandran Ashwin over Ravi Bishnoi, who had been performing regularly since his debut this year.

The selection committee had another conundrum to choose between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik for the big tournament for the wicketkeeper’s role. They went ahead and included both of them in the 15-member squad. While Rishabh Pant was a part of India’s 20-20 World Cup squad in 2021, Karthik got himself in contention post his prolific run in the Indian T20 League this year.

The veteran wicketkeeper took the tournament by storm while playing the crucial role of the finisher for the Bangalore franchise in the tournament. Karthik was rewarded for his scintillating performances with a place in the Indian team for the home T20I series against South Africa in June. The 37-year-old has been a mainstay in the team since then. He scored 330 runs in 16 innings at an average of 55 and a magnificent strike rate of 183.

During one of his post-match interviews in the Indian T20 League, Karthik expressed his wish of playing for India in the 20-20 world cup this year. His wish has finally come true as he has been included in the squad for the marquee event earlier today. The 37-year-old took to Twitter to express his excitement after his selection in the team. He tweeted, “Dreams do come true.”

Here's the Tweet:

Dreams do come true 💙

— DK (@DineshKarthik) September 12, 2022

India squad for the 20-20 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.

Standby players - Mohd. Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.