Dinesh Karthik has justified World Cup selection with timely knock, says Rohan Gavaskar

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have now lost six games in a row after winning four of the first five matches in the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The last team that was defeated by the Knight Riders was the Rajasthan Royals (RR), their first fixture against each other in IPL 12, on April 7. Coming to this day, the KKR have lost their second fixture against the RR despite Dinesh Karthik’s brilliant knock.

It was one of the rare days when power-hitter Andre Russell scored a run-a-ball 14 off 14 but it was the skipper Dinesh Karthik who guided the Kolkata Knight Riders to a decent total of 175/6 in 20 overs. Karthik scored an unbeaten 97 off 50 deliveries while the rest of the batting brigade disappointed hugely.

However, the Kolkata bowlers weren’t able to contain the Rajasthan Royals batting attack who successfully chased down the target of 176 with four balls left. Despite Kolkata’s sixth straight loss in the IPL 2019 contest, Karthik was highly praised for this knock especially since his inclusion in the World Cup for India was questioned by many.

Dinesh Karthik was the right choice for the World Cup: Rohan Gavaskar

Stating the same fact, former Indian cricketer and expert Rohan Gavaskar said that there were a lot of people who were unhappy with Karthik’s selection ahead of the youngster Rishabh Pant. The Delhi Capitals player also scored a commendable knock of 78 n.o. against RR on April 22 helping the franchise claim the top spot (now placed second) in the season’s points table.

However, former Indian batsman Rohan Gavaskar told News18 that “Dinesh Karthik was the right choice for the World Cup.” He further praised the KKR captain saying he brings “calmness and experience” to the side and what bigger proof than the knock against RR itself.

“He[DK] came into bat when the team was struggling…there was no fluency in the KKR innings but he held the innings together, he was the glue and towards the end, he exploded. Overall, a tremendous knock by Dinesh Karthik, his highest in the IPL. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t score a hundred but he must be happy with the fact that he batted really well,” Rohan Gavaskar added.

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