Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik, the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, has not played for India since the 2019 World Cup’s semi-final loss against New Zealand. 

Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey have done well in New Zealand in the middle order, but the fans felt they needed some experience in the middle order to see them through, after the ODI series whitewash at the hands of Kiwis. That is where Dinesh Karthik can come in with his vast experience.

IPL 2020: "From opponents to KKR's pillars of strength", Karthik excited to team up with McCullum

Dinesh Karthik, who famously won India the Nidahas Trophy in 2018 against Bangladesh, in what is considered to be one of the greatest knocks in T20I history, was hoping to do well for the KKR team in this season of IPL and staking a claim for that middle-order spot.

He can perform well down the order, given that he has the big shots in his arsenal, which Manish Pandey does not and struggles to make quick runs in death overs. This makes Karthik a perfect contender for the finisher’s role.

However, if the IPL is canceled, Karthik stands to lose the most, as without an audition, there can be no selection and at 34, his time is running out fast. With 3654 runs in 182 IPL matches with 18 fifties and a top score of 97*, Karthik has the experience needed to perform under pressure, but he needs to have a good IPL if it happens.