The Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar recently came up with a surprising suggestion to select the reserve opener slot for the upcoming World Cup.
2019 ICC Cricket World Cup is less than four months away to begin. The present no.2 ODI ranked team India is one of the favourite sides to win the tournament. In the Indian squad, there are a good number of varieties available in most places.
Indian limited-overs opening batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan both are in great forms. They are one of the great partners in the current limited overs international cricket setup and set to begin the World Cup journey. However, as a safety part, the team management can choose a reserve opener for the upcoming World Cup.
As the openers are in great form with proper fitness in the recent time, there was hardly any demand to check out the other option in this particular place. But when the World Cup tournament is very near, the question has arisen that who can be India’s reserve opener.
Earlier, the team management usually picked KL Rahul as the reserve opener. However, at present, his batting form is too weak as well as his confidence. In a simple word, his World Cup chance is not favourable at present.
A regular opener, Shubman Gill just recently made his international debut through the ODI where he played as the no.3 batsman. The 19-year-old still needs time to set himself as an international cricketer.
Dinesh Karthik as the reserve opener
At this moment, Sunil Gavaskar surprisingly named Dinesh Karthik as the reserve opener for the upcoming World Cup. He further added that India could go with the three regular wicketkeepers by adding the youngster Rishabh Pant.
Though Dinesh Karthik has played as an opening batsman in the national team at past, currently he is a crucial middle-order batsman. According to Dinesh Karthik’s latest comment, team management wants him to bat at no.6. He is presently playing the finisher role and doing his job powerfully. However, Sunil Gavaskar believes that Dinesh Karthik can also maintain his positive performance as an opening batsman. While the team management is still thinking about the reserve opener, the Indian legend gives a surprise option to them.