World Cup 2023 | Fourth pacer and backup batter are areas India must prioritise, remarks Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik has shared his views after India’s squad announcement for the Asia Cup 2023 stating that the team needs to focus on having a fourth pacer before World Cup. Karthik also added that India should focus on having a backup batter in the middle order before the competition.
With the Asia Cup set to start on August 30, India recently announced their squad for the competition. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul returned to the team while Yuzvendra Chahal was dropped from the squad. The pace department includes Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Prasidh Krishna. Recently, Dinesh Karthik shared his views about India’s chances in the upcoming World Cup saying they should focus on selecting their fourth pace bowler.
"There are two areas (India must identify at the Asia Cup)," Karthik said during a Cricket World Cup commercial shoot with Emirates.
"No.1. Who is the fourth medium pacer. We have Jasprit (Bumrah), we have (Mohammad) Shami and we have (Mohammad) Siraj. We are sure about all of these three, but who is going to be the fourth?
"Is it going to be Shardul Thakur? Is it going to be Prasidh Krishna? Mukesh Kumar? Or are you going to go for the pace of Umran Malik?"
KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav will be there in the middle order while Tilak Varma can be also slotted in the middle order. Karthik is of the opinion that India are not yet sure about their backup batter in the middle order and should keep their priorities on sorting the issue.
"Do we need a left hander? Do we look at Tilak Varma or is Suryakumar (Yadav) that option as he plays all the sweeps that are available in the game, makes it hard for spinners and is a very good player of spin as well,” he added.
"So who is the back-up batter. That is the next question. These are the two areas for me and I think these are the two big things India must be answering during this Asia Cup."