VB Chandrasekhar questions Dinesh Karthik's selection for Champions Trophy

In the 2017 IPL, Mumbai Indians won the coveted trophy for a record third time beating Rising Pune Supergiant in the final. Krunal Pandya was a big cog in the Mumbai machine finishing with 243 runs in 13 matches to go along with the 10 wickets. In the final, too, with wickets falling around him, Pandya Sr. scored 47 runs to take Mumbai to a defendable total. While his performances were applauded by fans and experts alike, Krunal has found a new admirer in the form of Indian national selector Chandrasekhar, who said that he would have picked the Baroda all-rounder over Dinesh Karthik to replace the injured Manish Pandey for Champions Trophy.

“India is a good side but unfortunately some of the key players haven’t shown great form in the IPL. That’s definitely an area of concern. Dinesh Karthik is in great form and all that is fine, but the selectors should have gone for in-form Krunal Pandya. As far as batting is concerned, most of them are struggling,” Chandrasekhar told Sportstar.

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to start on June 1 with hosts England taking on Bangladesh in the tournament opener at the Oval while India take on arch- rivals Pakistan in their first game on June 4. When asked about who he thought was the favorite to win the title this time around Chandrasekhar said, “It (England) has a good variety in batting and bowling departments. I think that makes England the favourite.”