DINESH KARTHIK

Dinesh Karthik had got a golden chance to cement his place in the Indian Test side, as he made a comeback into the team on tour to England after 11 years. Wriddhiman Saha’s injury and rehabilitation time may indicate that he might not get fit for the tour to Australia in November this year and Karthik had a chance to prove his mettle with gloves behind the stumps and with the bat.

However, since the retirement of MS Dhoni, India has been on the search for a brilliant batsman-keeper and with Saha injured, Karthik saw the opportunity to fill that gap. But unfortunately, Karthik failed miserably with the bat, scoring 21 runs in 4 innings including two ducks.

Behind the stumps, he took 5 catches, but also dropped a few chances, an important one of Sam Curran on Day one of the first Test, which prolonged England’s innings to day two and took away a big morale boost from India.

His wicket-keeping hasn’t been a bit convincing when it comes to technique or catching. He failed to deal with the movement of the ball after it passes the batsman and his catching was sketchy at the best.

His batting has been one of the best assets for India in limited overs format, but when it came to facing the guile and skills of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, he was brutally exposed and he failed to come good and cement his place.

Finally, he was dropped after the first two Tests and was replaced by 20-year-old Rishabh Pant, who started his Test career with a second ball six.

With Karthik inching towards the age of 34 years and young Rishabh Pant on his heels along with other few options as the replacement, it can be safely said that Karthik’s Test career may stay limited to 26 Tests and he may remain a player whose full potential was never realized due to his own inconsistency.