ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Dinesh Karthik Replaces Injured Manish Pandey In The Squad
May 18, 2017 at 10:25 PM
Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has replaced injured Manish Pandey for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.
Pandey could not feature in Kolkata Knight Riders’ win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator on Wednesday (May 17) owing to a left side strain which he sustained during a practice session.
NEWS ALERT: @DineshKarthik to replace injured Manish Pandey in the Indian team for Champions Trophy #TeamIndia 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/puFZCx5QJN
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 18, 2017
Karthik, meanwhile, was a part of the 5-man standby list for the Champions trophy which was announced by the national selectors along with the 15-man squad. The 31-year old, whose last One-Day International appearance came way back in 2014 against Afghanistan, was also a part of the Indian team that lifted the Champions Trophy title four years ago in England. He had featured in all the five matches that India had played in the last edition of the tournament and averaged an impressive 41 including a half-century. A string of poor performances then saw him losing his place in the national side.
But he has been one of the most consistent performers in domestic cricket in the last few years and is now reaping the rewards for it. He enjoyed a highly fruitful domestic season where he led Tamil Nadu to their fifth Vijay Hazare title by scoring 112 in the final against Bengal. He finished the 50-overs tournament as the top run-getter averaging 86.71, while scoring 607 runs in nine matches. In the Ranji Trophy, he scored 704 runs in 10 matches at an average of 54.15.
He continued his red-hot form in the Duleep Trophy too where he scored 211 runs in the three games he played for India Blue. He also led Tamil Nadu to Deodhar Trophy title by scoring 247 runs in 3 matches. His form in the IPL was equally impressive where he amassed 361 runs in 14 outings at an average of a shade over 36.
Meanwhile, the ICC Champions Trophy will begin in England from June 1 while India will begin their title defence against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 4 in Birmingham.
Here is India’s squad for the Champions Trophy:
Virat Kohli(C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami