Indian batter Dinesh Karthik has named a batter whom he feels should bat in the middle order against Australia if Shreyas Iyer is unfit. He backed Suryakumar Yadav to bat at No.5 as he’s a good player of spin and can take the game away from the opposition.
“I personally feel we should play Suryakumar because he is a great player of spin,” says Dinesh Karthik
India is all set to host Australia for the four-match Test series. The first game between the nations will be played on February 9th in Nagpur followed by the second Test to be played on 17th February in Delhi.
The third game between India and Australia is slated to take place on 1st March in Dharamshala whereas the last game will be played on 9th March in Ahmedabad.
With just a few days remaining before the start of the first game, India has suffered a major blow. It is learned as per the reports in Indian Express Shreyas Iyer is ruled out of the first Test against Australia.
Iyer suffered a knee injury ahead of the ODI series against New Zealand and was ruled out of the series. He was then shifted to NCA for rehab. But as the reports, he is deemed unfit to play the first game and will join the team ahead of the second game.
With Iyer not available, there have been various speculations about who will bat in the middle in his absence. Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav are the two ideal candidates and many fans and pundits have given their take on the same.
Dinesh Karthik backs Suryakumar Yadav to play ahead of Shubman Gill for the first BGT Test in case Shreyas Iyer misses out.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 3, 2023
Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik also shared his view on the bandwagon. Speaking on Cricbuzz, he said that Suryakumar should bat in the middle as he’s a good player of spin. He added:
“In case Shreyas Iyer is not fit, there is going to be a toss-up between Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill. I personally feel we should play Suryakumar because he is a great player of spin and we are going to play on some interesting wickets that are going to support spin. Give him the opportunity. He has been in red-hot form.”
“It will still be KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma,” Dinesh Karthik on India’s opening pair for Border-Gavaskar Trophy
There also have been a lot of speculations about India’s opening pair for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While KL Rahul not performing well and Gill smashed a ton in the last series India played, it’ll be a great headache for management.
However, Karthik feels that despite being in red-hot form, Gill may not start. He added: “The beauty of Indian cricket right now is that somebody who’s in such red-hot form might not be a starter in a format. I feel that Gill is aware that KL Rahul has obviously had a long lineage and has been around for some time.
He has done well in tough conditions like those in England. He has not had the best of times in Test cricket in the recent past, but it will still be KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma opening.” He concluded.
