'He should be in the running for the spot' - Sunil Gavaskar backs Dinesh Karthik to be selected for T20 WC 2022

Dinesh Karthik, who was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the ongoing IPL 2022, has had a dream run in the league. With Karthik batting well, many experts have opined that he should be in India’s scheme of things for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has said that Karthik is slogging hard to make a comeback to the national team. The veteran keeper had last donned the Indian jersey back in 2019 during the team’s heartbreaking World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in Manchester. Karthik scored a painstaking six runs off 25 balls on a tough wicket before a one-handed catch from Jimmy Neesham led to his dismissal.

I spent about 10-12 days in quarantine with Dinesh Karthik: Sunil Gavaskar

“I spent a lot of time with him last year. We spent about 10-12 days in quarantine in Belgrade, Serbia where we practically sort of spending 12 to 14 hours a day, eating lunch, dinner, and breakfast. Spending time with him, I got to see how keen he was to come back to the Indian team. He was keen to come back to the team that played in the UAE last year. That didn’t quite happen. It was perhaps a little too close. The IPL that year didn’t go all that well for him”, said Gavaskar while speaking to Sports Today.

“But the way the IPL is going for him at the moment, I do believe he should be very much in the running for the India spot in the October tournament, maybe even earlier for South Africa, for England, I do believe he should be earlier in the team,” he added.

The Tamil Nadu cricketer has beenRCB‘s savior on many occasions in the ongoing IPL 2022. He has so far amassed 274 runs from 12 matches averaging 68.50 and at a strike rate of 200 including a half-century. The veteran has also remained unbeaten on eight of those occasions as well.

With two more league games left, RCB would want to settle for nothing less than a win as they eye a third straight playoff berth. They would next be seen in action against Punjab Kings at the Brabourne Stadium on May 12.