'I don’t know how India backed Dinesh Karthik for so long,' says Maninder Singh

Veteran cricketer Dinesh Karthik was considered the first choice for the wicketkeeper’s role in the T20 World Cup in Australia. However, his subpar performance has earned the ire of ex-Indian bowler Maninder Singh. The former spinner slammed the Indian team selectors for keeping Karthik with the side.

The 37-year-old batter had caught the attention of the management with a match-winning cameo in the 2018 Nidahas Trophy Final against Bangladesh. Referring to that innings, Singh noted that it has been four years since then and he could not notice the same approach in recent times.

Looking at his numbers in the World Cup, Karthik failed to produce anything productive on the fast-paced, bouncy tracks in Australia. In the tournament opener against Pakistan, he came in late and left the field contributing just one run to the scoresheet. The lean patch continued in the following fixture against South Africa.

This time, the right-handed batter was restricted to single digits once again and scored just six runs. The scenario was quite the same in his final appearance against Bangladesh which saw him going back to the pavilion for seven runs.

Taking a dig at those below-par performances, Singh explained, “I don’t know how India backed Dinesh Karthik for so long. I saw him finish just one match, that too the Nidahas Final four years ago. Even in the T20 World Cup, he was backed to the hilt and it felt like he was under pressure due to that finisher’s tag. So if someone is not performing then you need to make changes.”

Notably, Karthik made a comeback to the Indian T20I lineup following a dominant performance as a finisher for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2022. He finished the session with 330 runs under his belt at an impressive strike rate of 183.33.

Additionally, Singh highlighted the situation India faced during the World Cup for not having a proper wrist spinner in the unit. According to him, the selectors have made a similar mistake in the upcoming Bangladesh tour.

The former spinner wasted no time suggesting the name of Kuldeep Yadav who has not featured in Blue Jersey for quite some time. “How would you know what bowlers like Kuldeep can give us if you don’t routinely play them?” he raised the question.

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