Team India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) wicketkeeper-batter, Dinesh Karthik has named three uncapped Indian players who deserve to get a look into the Indian Test side during the next cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). Karthik, who has played alongside the senior players in the current Indian team for a long time, admitted that a few players in the Test setup are in their mid-30s and pinning hopes on them in the long term would not be a good idea.
Karthik believes young opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who enjoyed a stellar Indian Premier League (IPL) and domestic season, should be selected for Tests moving forward. Karthik named Jaiswal's Mumbai teammate Sarfaraz Khan as another potential candidate for India's middle-order and right-arm fast bowler Mukesh Kumar to be given the opportunity to stamp their claim.
"No. 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal. He has had a phenomenal domestic season. Are we going to find a place for him? No. 2 Sarfaraz Khan. Now that's been a big name doing the rounds for some time now in the middle order. If you want to fit him in, who are you going to leave out and then followed by the Mukesh Kumars and the rest of them, is there a place for a new medium pacer to come in and stamp his authority over a period of time? Are you going to give him that two-year cycle?" Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
Team India's hopes of winning another ICC trophy came to a screeching halt after Australia thumped Rohit Sharma & Co. in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval on June 11 (Sunday). India ended up losing the summit clash by a huge margin of 209 runs. As a result, the wait for another ICC title elongated further for India.
Australia were the better team throughout the five days of the Test match as India fell behind the eight ball on the opening day of the final. From thereon, India was playing catch up but their dream of a miracle win came to an end after yet another batting collapse. Rohit & Co. were comprehensively beaten as they sustained a massive 209-run defeat in the Ultimate Test.
Karthik also opined that the absence of key players like Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer played a role in India's failure to win the title.
"In many ways we know that a lot of them are in their mid-30s. So few questions there for Rahul Dravid, who he wants to keep and who he wants to move on with. Now other names that you said, Bumrah, Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Pant. Iyer will walk into this team. Let's make it very obvious. I think they warrant a place in the team. In this cycle, they have been one of the key reasons, why we are sitting here and talking in England today because that's the kind of success they have helped India achieve", Karthik added.
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