Don't know how India backed Dinesh Karthik for so long: Former Indian cricketer

Former Indian cricketer Maninder Singh was baffled to see Men in Blue back veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik for a long period in their T20I plans. Karthik played four of their six T20 World Cup games but failed to make an impact.

Maninder feels that 'DK' hasn't made any telling contributions apart from his heroic cameo of 29*(8) in the Nidahasa Trophy final back in 2018. He feels the team should have moved on from Karthik and looked for newer solutions.

In a media interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network ahead of India vs Bangladesh ODIs, here's what Maninder Singh had to say:

"I don't know how India backed Dinesh Karthik for so long. I saw him finish just one match, that too the Nidahasa Final four years ago. Even in the T20 World Cup, he was backed to the hilt and it felt like he was under pressure due to that finisher's tag. So if someone is not performing then you need to make changes."

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Maninder Singh on India not picking wrist-spinners for Bangladesh ODIs

Maninder Singh was already disappointed by the fact that Team India didn't play Yuzvendra Chahal at all in the T20 World Cup. He was baffled even more when he realized that the Men in Blue didn't even pick a single wrist-spinner for their ODI series against Bangladesh.

On this, the former cricketer stated:

"We already made the mistake of not playing wrist spinner in the T20 World Cup and we also aren't taking any wrist spinner for the ODIs in the Bangladesh tour. If you don't play bowlers like Kuldeep regularly then how will you know what they can offer with the build-up to the World Cup?"

Squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen.