Dinesh Karthik has failed to fire in the first three matches of the 20-20 World Cup so far. The wicket-keeper batter has scores of 1 and 6 in the two innings he has batted in the tournament. Karthik is doubtful for India’s next match against Bangladesh after getting injured against South Africa at Perth. Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has given an update on Karthik’s fitness ahead of India’s next match on Wednesday.
Ahead of the match, Dinesh Karthik did a lot of keeping drills during an hour and a half’s indoor session at the Adelaide Oval but didn’t look fully fit. Dravid said that a call on his participation against Bangladesh will be taken on Wednesday, the day of the game.
“Yeah, he’s (Karthik) pulled up pretty well today. It was unfortunate he had that spasm when he jumped to collect a bouncer. I think when he landed badly, he landed in a way that I think he just hurt his back a little bit,” Dravid told reporters before the start of the training session.
“But with treatment and with the day — this morning he’s pulled up pretty well. So we’ll be assessing it. We’ll see how it goes, and we’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow morning after a good practice session today,” Dravid added.
“We’ll put him through his paces and ensure that we’ve given him a good workout and then see how he pulls up tomorrow morning before making a final decision,” the head coach further said.
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant didn’t train on the day and normally, players, who have their places assured in the playing eleven, don’t come for training on eve of the match. While assessing Karthik’s performance with the bat so far in the tournament, Dravid said that it’s difficult for a player to bat at no. 5 and 6 as he doesn’t get enough balls.
“Again, tough for someone like DK to assess how he’s gone. Didn’t get to play many games. He got one ball against Pakistan at that back end and didn’t bat against the Netherlands. Thought he was building up a pretty good partnership with Surya at that stage,” Dravid said in defence of the Tamil Nadu keeper.
“You play that high-risk shot and you can get out on that shot, which is why people need to be supported and backed as much as we possibly can in these formats because you hardly — sometimes people, especially in positions like DK’s at 5 and 6, you don’t get enough balls,” Dravid added.
