The former wicket-keeper batter of the Indian side, Dinesh Karthik, has made his view on the team selection of the touring party during the fourth Test of the five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). They came into the fixture with the series being labeled at 1-1.
The head coach of the side, Gautam Gambhir, and captain Rohit Sharma decided to leave out their future start of the batting department, Shubman Gill and included the off-spin all-rounder, Washington Sundar. They don’t have the services of their veteran spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket at the end of the third Gabba Test.
Tanush Kotian, the replacement of Ashwin, came late down under and wasn’t available for the encounter. Dinesh Karthik believed that the management showed so much belief in their young all-rounder, Nitish Reddy, who has already made a mark with the bat in hand.
Dinesh Karthik compares two head coaches- Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir
The renowned commentator of the side, Harsha Bhogle, felt that with the scorching heat of Melbourne, if they felt that the surface would dry up and it would spin, then they should have Sundar but in place of Reddy.
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Dinesh Karthik, on the flip of the coin, felt that the current management has decided to back the player who has scored the runs currently rather than someone who has done it in the past. The Andhra Pradesh all-rounder is the third leading run-getter for the national side in the BGT 2024-25 with 179 runs in five innings at an average of 44.75.
“It’s an eleven that they have played on current form. You just look at the way both Gill and Nitish have batted in this Australian series, and you would say that Reddy had been showing a bit more promise. So, it’s always a tough one, which way you deal with, whether you want to back the guy who has batted well for you for some time or the guy who has done well currently.” The former Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper, Dinesh Karthik, expressed during a discussion on Cricbuzz.
The veteran also addressed the entire selection as a 50-50 call and pointed out that the batting contribution of Ravindra Jadeja in Brisbane has worked in favor of putting him at number six.
“It’s a 50-50 call, and they have decided to go with Nitish Kumar Reddy, mainly for the batting but also the fact that he gives a few overs with the ball. That Jadeja had done well previously, it had given them the confidence to bat him at number six.” Dinesh Karthik reckoned.
The middle-order batter has compared Gambhir with the former head coach of the side, Rahul Dravid, where he shed light on how the latter would always back the players who have done it for the side over some time.
“Now, this current support staff have gone with what they feel has happened and unfolded before them. Rahul Dravid was a person who used to back people who had done well for some time. For example, even when Ishan Kishan was batting well, Shreyas Iyer came back to the Asia Cup side, and he found his position in the eleven, even though Ishan Kishan had got a good amount of scores during the tournament or even to the lead up to that.” Dinesh Karthik added.
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The 39-year-old elaborated on how Dravid used to change the player only if they would struggle for a certain long amount of time, while this current set-up is going with the approach and attitude they have seen so far.
“He (Dravid) backed a player who had done well for them before, and he had that method where he used to see one player kept coming after another, and someone had failed, then the other person would rotate. In this current set-up, it’s a bit more about who has been batting well today or who has been batting well for this series, and hence, That person would play. That’s the approach and attitude they have gone for.” Dinesh Karthik concluded.