ENG vs IND 2018: Play Dinesh Karthik ahead of Suresh Raina in Bristol, says Murali Kartik

Dinesh Karthik has been in outstanding form with the bat in T20 Cricket.

Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik

Former Indian Cricketer, Murali Kartik has come out and suggested the Indian team management to pick wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik in their middle order in the third and deciding T20I against England, come Sunday, July 8.

Kartik stated that Dinesh is an outstanding T20 batsman and should be playing ahead of Suresh Raina, as Virat Kohli's men strive towards winning the T20I series in Bristol. 

Suresh Raina, who didn't bat in the first match at Manchester, played a useful knock in the second at Cardiff, has been preferred by captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri over Dinesh Karthik, who has been in some outstanding T20 form with his exploits for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League this year being absolutely magnificent. 

Speaking in a show for ESPNcricinfo, Murali said, “Look, one spot you might look at is Suresh Raina. Yes, he did bat well, but what is the role you have is the only thing because most of his numbers and runs have come at the number, which has been taken over by KL Rahul and you can’t expect Virat Kohli to bat any further down. So is there a chance for somebody like Karthik to be brought into the team because he can play different sort of roles"

He further added, "He(Dinesh) has always been the aggressor and that’s the role he has generally be seen in, coming at five, six, seven and it’s something they can look at. I would always play him, I was a bit surprised and this is something which I asked Virat as well. I said that it must be tough for him to drop somebody like Karthik, but such is the strength in the team,”

The series is currently leveled 1-1, with the series decider starting on Sunday, July 8. 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 08 Jul, 2018

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