Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has said the team management did not want to force opener KL Rahul into the middle order in the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand and thus opted for a middle-order specialist in Dinesh Karthik.
Surprising decision
Quite a few eyebrows were raised when Rahul's name was omitted earlier this month from the 15-member squad for the upcoming ODI rubber. The Karnataka opener, who has cemented his place in the Indian Test side, started his limited-overs career as an opener, smashing a ton and a half-century during India's tour to Zimbabwe in 2016.
However, the young batsman struggled after Kohli slotted him in the middle order during the Sri Lanka tour, in which he managed just 28 runs from four matches.
Rahul was part of India's squad during their 4-1 win over Australia last month, but the consistent performances of openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane made it difficult for him to break into the playing XI. His Karnataka teammate Manish Pandey also grabbed the middle-order role with a few handy knocks against Steve Smith's men.
"This series [against New Zealand] Dinesh Karthik has come in for KL [Rahul]. KL opens mostly. So we did not want to have a situation like what Rahane was going through -- to play in the middle order forcefully because of the consistency of top-order batsmen.," Kohli said at a press conference on the eve of the first ODI, starting Sunday (October 22) in Mumbai.
He added: "We thought he [Rahul] should some game time at the first-class level. We got Dinesh, who is used to playing in the middle-order, who is more comfortable and more aware of how to bat in the middle order.
"We need to strike the balance, bring guys who have performed well at domestic level, India A. We need to track their performances and give them chances."
Ganguly disappointed with decision to drop Rahul
Meanwhile, former India captain Sourav Ganguly blasted Kohli's decision to drop Rahul and bring in Karthik. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president said the team should back the young Karnataka batsman, who according to him, is a better prospect for the future.
"I have a lot of regard for Dinesh as a cricketer and he has a lot of runs in domestic cricket but he debuted in 2006 with me and this is 2017 and he's still in and out of the team. Look at what KL has done in 3 years, he has stamped his authority all around the world. As far as I'm concerned, he needs to be backed because he is your future," Ganguly told "India Today".
Notably, Karthik, who was part of India's team at Champions Trophy 2017 and tour to the West Indies, was dropped for the Sri Lanka and Australia series. However, with some consistent performances in the recently-concluded Duleep Trophy (two centuries), the Tamil Nadu batsman has regained the faith of the selectors.
