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Former India wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik slams Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir for selecting playing XI in the third Test match in Brisbane's Gabba. Team India featured a change in the team's bowling attack where Ravindra Jadeja replaced Ravichandran Ashwin. Before this, Washington Sundar who played in Perth was benched as he was replaced by Ashwin for the Adelaide Test.
Karthik called out Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma's decision as 'defensive' while sending a reminder of what Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri used to aim for as a captain-coach duo.
"I have to say (Gautam) Gambhir and Rohit (Sharma) have gone towards an option that provides more batting. In the bowling, they have realised that all three (two) spinners haven't had that much of an impact," Karthik said in a chat on Cricbuzz.
"So, they probably fear that, you know, let's try and get the best batter out of the three and this is what their thinking could be. It doesn't sit well with me," he added.
Karthik advised Gambhir and Rohit and in Test matches you need to aim for 20 wickets. As Jadeja was included in Gabba's playing XI, Karthik reckons that the team was more balanced in the batting unit but lost its magic as a bowling unit.
"You always have to give credit to Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli in the limited success that they had while touring was (that) they aimed for 20 wickets. What can we do as a unit to get 20 wickets, that was the constant question and they always preferred playing 6:5 combination (6 batters and 5 bowlers)," he explained.
Karthik also lavished praise on Nitish Kumar Reddy who made in Test debut in the first Test of the ongoing five Test match series against Australia.
"Now, India is blessed to an extent with Nitish (Kumar) Reddy, who is giving us a few overs with the ball at times and picking up a wicket as well. He has probably been the find of the series so far. To get into that mindset where you want depth of batting but you don't mind lack of bowling," Karthik said.
"But the other side of the argument could be, what has Washington and Ashwin done with the ball that a Jadeja can't. That would be the only thing. I feel it's slightly a defensive option but I understand where they are coming from," he concluded.
Team India will look to win the Gabba Test to shift the momentum of the series as they are coming after losing the second Test match in Adelaide.
