Michael Vaughan bats for Dinesh Karthik’s inclusion in India’s T20 World Cup squad

 

Dinesh Karthik has been in outrageous form in IPL 2022. His fantastic performances have been of match-winning nature for Royal Challengers Bangalore and he has also been very consistent this season. As a result, several fans and experts are pushing for him to be included in India’s T20 World Cup squad as he provides the profile of a finisher that the team desperately lacks.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has pointed out the fact that finishing games is an area of concern for Team India, especially in the shortest format of the sport. Dinesh Karthik has the ability to fill the gap with his hitting prowess.

The wicketkeeper-batter continued his excellent form in IPL 2022 and smashed 30 not out off just eight deliveries for Royal Challengers Bangalore in their encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. The 36-year-old’s innings consisted of four sixes and a boundary.

Praising Dinesh Karthik’s match-winning knocks, Vaughan declared that he deserves a place in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

“India have to somehow find a way to get Dinesh Karthik in that T20 World Cup side. There is a precarious area for India around that No.6 to No.8 positions. Hardik Pandya has been okay but he has been hit with injuries. They haven’t really had that finisher kind of player in the side for a while. With the way that he is playing, he might have to put the commentary microphone down for another T20 World Cup and get out there in Indian colors,” he told Cricbuzz.

Karthik last represented India in the 2019 ICC World Cup where the Men in Blue were knocked out in the semi-final by New Zealand in Manchester. Karthik was dropped from the Indian team following a dismal World Cup campaign in 2019.

Several cricket pundits believed that his international career was over following that drop. Dinesh Karthik venturing into the field of commentary only added more fuel to that fire.

However, he has almost reinvented his game and has turned himself into a wonderful finisher.

The 36-year-old has amassed 274 runs in 12 innings at an average of 68.50 and has a tremendous strike rate of 200. He has hit 21 fours and 21 sixes in IPL this season.