"He could probably slide down the order" - Dinesh Karthik's stunning suggestion for star Indian batter ahead of IND vs SL Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 clash

England v India - 1st Rothesay Test Match: Day Five - Source: Getty
Dinesh Karthik made a unique suggestion for India to try out with the bat against Sri Lanka [Credit: Getty]

Former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik believes the in-form Abhishek Sharma could move down the batting order to provide a few of the other batters a hit in the Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash against Sri Lanka in Dubai on September 26. The game will be inconsequential for both teams, as India has already qualified for the grand finale and Sri Lanka has been eliminated from the tournament.

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The Men in Blue have been in dominant form throughout the tournament, winning all five of their games. Abhishek has been the star with the bat, scoring a competition-leading 248 runs at an average of almost 50 and a strike rate of 206.66.

When asked about any possible changes to the Indian lineup for the Sri Lanka clash, Karthik said on Cricbuzz (28:27):

"The only thing is if Abhishek is happy , having had a good bat, he could probably slide down the order and give somebody else like a Surya or a Tilak an opportunity. If I was in Gambhir's place, I would just go stock standard as to what is expected. Unless he feels there is a bowler that needs to be rested, I'll look to win another game of cricket."
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India have tinkered with their batting order after the openers in almost all their games in the ongoing Asia Cup. They will have one final opportunity to experiment before the summit clash against Pakistan on September 28.

"Don't have a problem with how India are shaping up with the bat" - Dinesh Karthik

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Dinesh Karthik backed Team India's approach of adjusting their batting order according to the match situation throughout the 2025 Asia Cup. The side promoted Shivam Dube to No. 3 in their most recent game against Bangladesh, while Sanju Samson did not come into bat even after the fall of five wickets.

While the overall result went India's way once again, several fans and former players criticized the side for constantly chopping and changing the batting order.

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"I don't have a problem with how India are shaping up with the bat. Would I like Surya to get more runs? 100%. But I am not going to think Sanju needs to get more opportunities or Axar needs to get more opportunities. Somewhere you need to develop that bone of being ruthless as well," said Karthik (via the aforementioned source).

Only the two Indian openers, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, have tallied over 100 runs in the tournament, thanks to the other batters often changing batting positions.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
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