ICC Champions Trophy: Dinesh Karthik could feature in playing XI, hints Virat Kohli

A pleased Virat Kohli hinted on Tuesday at the possibility of including Dinesh Karthik in the playing XI when Indian cricket team lock horns with Pakistan cricket team in their big- ticket ICC Champions Trophy 2017 opener on June 4.

Dinesh Karthik staked a claim for a place in the middle-order by scoring a stylish 94 in India’s big win over Bangladesh cricket team in their second warm-up game. However, Virat Kohli might have a few things to worry about too, especially the form of regular opener Rohit Sharma.

Rohit (1) and Ajinkya Rahane’s (11) lack of footwork saw them getting out, playing on to the stumps. Rohit was dismissed by Rubel while Mustafizur got the better of Rahane. This was India’s second win in as many practice matches, the first coming against Bangladesh on Sunday.

“Both games we got what we wanted. Batsmen got runs, bowlers were outstanding as well. When the cloud cover comes in, it’s difficult for the batsmen,” Kohli said after the 240 -run victory over their sub-continent rivals. Batting first, India notched up 324 for seven, and then skittled out Bangladesh for a meagre 84 in only 23.5 overs at the Oval.

Kohli added, “We back Hardik (Pandya) and Kedar (Jadhav) to do the job for us down the order. Dinesh is an outstanding player, we just wanted to give him a longer run. We have ticked all the boxes in these games.”

Shikhar Dhawan (60) got runs under his belt, while Hardik Pandya showed his utility as an all-rounder with an equally impactful unbeaten 80 off 54 balls.

India used just one over of spin as their pacers shared nine wickets between themselves. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said, “Everything (went wrong). The bowling was okay. Day after we have a big game coming up.”