Dinesh Karthik can solve India's No. 4 riddle in ODIs
India and England will fight it out for the 50-over trophy in the third and deciding game of the series at Headingley on Tuesday, with both teams looking to win the series and go into the Tests on a positive note. India has performed well so far in this series barring the second ODI, where there was a collective failure in all the three departments.
Along with that India has one more issue in the middle order, and that is the number 4 slot, for which India has been experimenting since 2015 World Cup. They have tried many players at that position including stalwarts like Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, but are still in search of a player who can come in and make that position his own..
With the World Cup just a year away, It will be a great move if Virat and Company give an opportunity to Dinesh Karthik. After his heroics against Sri Lanka in the Nidahas Trophy Final, Karthik has got very few opportunities to prove himself, and he deserves a longer rope rather one or two games.
Karthik is also an important cog in this Indian team as he will be the one who will put on the wicket-keeping gloves in the coming Test series, with Saha still not completely recovered.
Karthik is the complete package as he is someone who can play both spin and fast bowling with ease, and who can swing his bat and hit those big shots at the death overs. He is a brilliant fielder too, so it is the ideal time to bring him into the picture and give him the right amount of exposure before the all important Test Series.
This move could also make him realize that he is the next number 4 for the Indian team in ODIs, which will allow him to play freely without any pressure, which could eventually help the team win more matches.