Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik feels Shikhar Dhawan is a certainty for India in the upcoming World Cup

The Indian cricket team is not preparing for the upcoming World Cup next year which will be held in India. While different people have different views on the team selection, Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has backed stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan to feature in the tournament.

Karthik feels that the rise of stocks of a youngster like Shubman Gill cannot be ignored but with the management showing faith in Dhawan, it is clear that the southpaw will be featuring for Indian in the upcoming 50-over World Cup. It is the only format that Dhawan plays internationally nowadays.

Dhawan will look to keep up his confidence among the selectors with some runs in the New Zealand series. He failed to deliver against South Africa as he only mustered 25 runs from three matches.

While assessing the team selections for the ongoing tour, Karthik suggested how Dhawan looks like a certainty for the World Cup next year. “From the kind of vibe that I get, he is definitely a starter for the World Cup; otherwise, they wouldn’t be having him around,” He told Cricbuzz.

Karthik reasoned how Dhawan is on the other side of 30 and the management can easily replace him with someone younger but he feels that Dhawan’s consistent performances in ICC events makes him a very crucial player up top.

“He’s obviously on the other side of 30. They could easily move on from him. Just the fact that they have him shows that they are very keen about having him in the ODI team and he’s been a gun player in ICC tournaments, somebody who rises to the occasion and he has played at a fair clip consistently,” Karthik explained.

The wicketkeeper batter also shared how Dhawan will enjoy leading Team India before his new assignment of leading his IPL franchise, Punjab Kings. The left handed batter has replaced Mayank Agarwal from captaincy. “Most importantly, it will be for him another opportunity before the IPL to lead a team and obviously take the team forward and that will be something he’ll be really looking forward to,” Karthik highlighted.

Shikhar Dhawan has earlier led the Punjab Kings and the Sunriser Hyderabad and has not had a great outing as captain In the IPL. He will look to improve on that aspect in his new stint as Punjab Kings captain in the upcoming Indian Premier League season.