Sunil Gavaskar, Gautam Gambhir engage in a war of words over Dinesh Karthik’s inclusion in India’s squad for the 20-20 World Cup 2022

Former Indian opener, Gautam Gambhir opines that giving Dinesh Karthik a place in the Indian team for the 20-20 World Cup 2022 is of no point if he is not going to be in the playing XI. Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, following Gambhir’s remarks, called Karthik the player India want for the perennial tournament. His statement came after Karthik's heroic knock in the 4th T20 international.

Gavaskar also explained that players must be picked based on their form rather than reputation. He questioned how one could guess that Karthik would not play, adding that Karthik cannot be expected to score a fifty frequently as he bats down the order at number six or seven. Karthik, coming from a good run in the Indian T20 League 2022 earned himself a comeback into the national team, and is now in contention to make it into India's 20-20 World Cup squad.

Karthik is very much in contention for the World Cup squad: Gavaskar

In the 4th T20 international, Karthik walked in when the team was struggling at 81 for four wickets in 12.5 overs, and his 27-ball 55 with the bat took the team to a total of 169. India won the game by 82 runs and levelled the series 2-2.

“The way he got runs today, India were down and out. Don’t look at the man’s age, look at the performances,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.

“I know people are talking about how can you include him in the team when he’s not going to play. How do you see he’s not going to be able to play? He could be the guy you want. You look at the form and not reputations, names and then you pick the guy,” added Gavaskar.

Karthik, in the recently concluded Indian T20 League, scored 330 runs with a strike rate of over 180 and an average above 50, making him one of the top players in the competition. He has also been part of the playing XI of all four T20Is against South Africa so far. The final T20I of the series will be played in Bangalore on June 19 (Sunday).