India vs New Zealand 2017: BCCI Official Reveal The Reason Behind Dinesh Karthik’s Selection & KL Rahul’s Omission
Oct 15, 2017 at 1:28 PM
While Common sense will say that most of the selectors are more than likely to persist with a winning combination; the Indian selectors have turned out to be an exception.
They not only tinkered with the squad that thoroughly dominated Australia in the five-match ODI series but also dropped KL Rahul for the upcoming series against New Zealand although the Karnataka star did not get to play a single game.
The selectors recalled senior batsman Dinesh Karthik who was a surprise omission from the squad for the series against Sri Lanka. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who was remembered as the team during the Champions Trophy, played just two games, impressing in both, before being dropped.
Similarly, Rahul’s omission is also surprising. The right-handed batsman was tried out at number 4 in Sri Lanka but without much success. However, he was retained in the team for the Australia series but could not play a single game before being dropped for the forthcoming three-match series.
And with the selections leaving everyone a bit puzzled, a BCCI official has explained the rationale behind it. The official said that Karthik was rewarded for his run-scoring spree before saying that there was no point in retaining Rahul in the squad without including him in the playing eleven.
“Karthik’s inclusion is a reward for the runs he has been scoring,” the official told ESPNcricinfo. “There is no particular reason [behind Rahul’s omission] because Ajinkya [Rahane] has done well as an opener. He (Rahul) will play Board President’s XI or the Ranji Trophy. What’s the point in him just being in the squad and not playing? We will see how it goes [as far as his batting position is concerned]. Because, as of now, this is the best combination.
With India’s inconsistent middle-order a big concern, the official said that Karthik being recalled as the middle-order is the part of the rotation policy as the team is keen to get the best-possible combination as early as possible.
“We are trying to rotate everybody. We are open to different combinations and options. DK instead of Rahul in the middle order is also a part of the process,” he said. “When somebody comes into the team, if he comes with a lot of runs, he will come with better confidence and will have a better chance of doing well.”
Meanwhile, star spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been once again ignored. The duo was also not picked in the team for the series against Sri Lanka and Australia.
Pacers Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami have faced the axe too while Shardul Thakur has been recalled.
Squad:
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.