IND vs PAK 2022: “Dropping Dinesh Karthik was something that was hard to understand” - Sunil Gavaskar questions India’s team selection

Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has questioned Team India’s selection for the Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 match against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, September 4. He described the decision to leave Dinesh Karthik out of the playing XI as “surprising”.

The Men in Blue made three changes to their team for the Super 4 contest against Pakistan. Karthik, who was part of the team for both the group games, was dropped, while Rishabh Pant retained his place in the playing XI.

Despite a great start by their openers, India failed to build on the momentum and ended up posting 181 for seven. Pakistan chased down the target with five wickets and one ball to spare. Reflecting on India’s defeat, Gavaskar admitted he was puzzled by the Men in Blue's playing XI. He told Sports Today:

“Dropping Dinesh Karthik, that was something that was a little bit hard to understand. Here, you have already identified him as a finisher. And, in this big game against Pakistan, you don’t pick him in the team. So, that was a bit of a surprise.”

There has been a massive debate in Indian cricket over who should be the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper in T20Is. Pant, who was chosen for the match against Pakistan, put up a disappointing performance, scoring 14 off 12 balls. He fell to Shadab Khan while attempting a pre-meditated reverse sweep.

---

“He was middling the ball from the first delivery that he faced” - Sunil Gavaskar on Virat Kohli

While the Indians went down to Pakistan by five wickets, Virat Kohli's performance was one of the biggest positives for the Men in Blue. The 33-year-old top-scored for India with a fluent 60 off 44 balls.

Sharing his thoughts on the batter’s knock, Gavaskar admitted that Kohli is showing glimpses of his old self and said:

“He was middling the ball from the first delivery that he faced. There were a couple of terrific shots. The pull shot was the best of them all and then the flick for six as well - excellent shots.

"Most importantly, just about every delivery today, he middled. That’s what gives the batters confidence. He’s batted quite superbly and that augurs really well for India in the matches to come.”

Kohli has been in impressive form in the Asia Cup 2022, registering scores of 35 and 59* against Pakistan and Hong Kong, respectively, in the group stage.