With India finally announcing their squad for the upcoming Asia Cup, veteran Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik believes the Men in Blue may have finally found a solution for the No. 4 slot.
India made some bold calls as Yuzvendra Chahal missed out on a spot, while Tilak Varma found a place in the side.
Varma made a strong start to his international career and was rewarded with a place in the squad for the Asia Cup. The same team will be trimmed for the ODI World Cup, which leaves the youngster with a chance of being picked for the mega event.
Karthik believes the left-hander could be an ideal candidate to step into the No. 4 role.
Speaking during a Cricket World Cup commercial shoot with Emirates, Karthik, quoted by ICC, said, “I was very impressed with Tilak Varma.
“I think he showed different sorts of temperament to his batting, at times he went all guns blazing up the order, then there was a game where he had to finish it off with Hardik Pandya and he did that as well. More important is that he can bowl off-spin and we have not had somebody who can roll their arm over so that makes that player very special," Karthik added.
Furthermore, Karthik believes, with Tilak being a left-hander in a line-up dominated by right-handed players, it works in his favour.
“Do we need a left-hander? Do we look at Tilak Varma or is Suryakumar (Yadav) that option. Is it wrong to say he (Suryakumar) is just a right-hander because he plays all the types of sweeps that are available in the game and makes it really hard for the spinners," Karthik stated.
Meanwhile, though Karthik backed Shreyas Iyer as the frontrunner for the No. 4 slot, the fact that he’s returning from injury, provides others with a chance to find their place in the Indian setup.
"I think Shreyas Iyer is the right player given his form and the scores he put together over the last eight months before getting injured. He has probably been the in-form batter at No.4, but with that, there is going to be a small issue," Karthik said.
"India is going to be filled with right-handers with six out of the top seven (being) right handers and (Ravindra) Jadeja is at No.7, so can Jadeja bat that little bit higher to bring that left-hand, right-hand combination that is a big question mark for India," signed off Karthik.
