‘I’m not disrespecting Dinesh Karthik but…’: Matthew Hayden questions DK’s role in Team India

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma made another huge statement by leaving out Rishabh Pant from the playing XI for the first T20I against Australia in Mohali, opting to go with Dinesh Karthik instead. There has been a long-standing debate about who should start for India in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. 

While Rohit opted for DK in their Asia Cup 2022 opener, he was subsequently benched and Rishabh Pant kept the wickets in the remaining matches. 

Karthik surprisingly started ahead of Pant against Australia but he could only score six runs before getting dismissed, this, after, Axar Patel was sent out to bat ahead of him. 

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Former Aussie opener Matthew Hayden has subsequently questioned the role of Karthik in Team India, urging the management that he should be given more chances to bat. 

“I was just thinking about the role of Dinesh (Karthik). This role Dinesh is playing now, for the life of me, I can’t work out why he wouldn’t be in their batting now. It doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever,” said Hayden while commentating during the first T20I. 

“See, I don’t want to give the impression that I’m disrespecting Dinesh Karthik, but he should be batting more-it’s actually the opposite. I think he is such a good player that he can come in and play this exact same shot. I question the role that he is playing as a finisher. I think there is a role for him to come up the order,” Hayden added. 

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Team India suffered a four-wicket defeat in the first match of the series, and now face a do-or-die match against the defending T20 World Cup champs in Nagpur on Friday. 

Rohit Sharma’s men will have to win both the remaining matches to register a comeback in the series.