"India have to somehow find a way to get Dinesh Karthik in that T20 World Cup side" - Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has urged the Indian selectors to fit Dinesh Karthik into the squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia later in the year. Vaughan pointed out that finishing has been a weak area for the Men in Blue in the T20I format and asserted that DK has the ability to fill that gap.

Karthik continued his golden run with the bat in IPL 2022, smashing an unbeaten 30 off eight balls for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday. The 36-year-old whacked four sixes and one four in his impactful cameo.

Praising the veteran keeper-batter, Vaughan proclaimed that the dasher deserves a place in India’s T20 World Cup squad. Speaking to Cricbuzz, he said:

“India have to somehow find a way to get Dinesh Karthik in that T20 World Cup side. There is a precarious area for India around that No.6 to No.8 positions. Hardik Pandya has been okay but he has been hit with injuries. They haven’t really had that finisher kind of player in the side for a while. With the way that he is playing, he might have to put the commentary microphone down for another T20 World Cup and get out there in Indian colors.”

The aggressive right-handed batter last represented India in the 2019 (50-over) World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Manchester.

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“He trained himself to be that impact player” - Michael Vaughan on Dinesh Karthik’s second coming

When Karthik was dropped from the Indian team following a poor 2019 World Cup campaign, many cricket pundits predicted that his days as an international cricketer were over.

Vaughan credited the veteran batter for working hard on his game and turning himself into a finisher of rare ability. He opined:

“The way that he is playing, only a small group of players in the world that can come out and strike like that from ball one. He knows he’s only going to bat for 8 to 12 deliveries. He trained himself to be that impact player, knowing that he has got options to go out there against all the different bowlers to hit sixes. That’s what his game is about. It’s an incredible skill to do that - 30 from 8, completely changed the momentum of the game.”

After Karthik’s blitzkrieg lifted RCB to 192 for 3 against SRH, Wanindu Hasaranga claimed 5 for 18 to bundle out Hyderabad for 125.