"Genuinely it was a mistake" - Dinesh Karthik apologizes for excluding MS Dhoni from all-time India XI
Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has claimed that he mistakenly left former captain MS Dhoni out of his all-time India XI and apologized to fans for the "blunder". Karthik picked his all-time Indian XI on the Indian Independence Day (August 15) with no specialist wicket-keeper.
However, fans assumed that Karthik wanted Rahul Dravid to be the wicket-keeper of his hypothetical team as the former Indian head coach donned the gloves as a part-time option.
In the latest episode of HeyCB with DK for Cricbuzz, Karthik clarified that omitting Dhoni from his XI was a genuine mistake.
"Bhai log. Bada galti hogaya (Guys I made a big mistake.) Genuinely it was a mistake. I realized only when the episode came out. There were so many things happening that when I put this 11, I forgot the wicketkeeper. Luckily Rahul Dravid was there and everybody thought I was going with a part-time wicketkeeper. But genuinely I didn't think Rahul Dravid as a wicketkeeper. Can you believe being a wicketkeeper, I forgot to have a wicketkeeper? It is a blunder," said Karthik.
Karthik then praised Dhoni by saying that the legendary wicket-keeper would be a lock in any all-time XI.
"And for me, let's be clear. Thala Dhoni is a lock in any format, not only in India. I feel he is one of the greatest cricketers to have ever played the game. If I had to redo that team, one change I would do is, Thala Dhoni in at 7. And he will be the captain of any Indian team that is there," added Karthik.
Karthik did not mention who he would remove from his original Indian XI to accommodate Dhoni.
Dhoni finished his international career with over 17,000 at an average of almost 45 and affected 829 dismissals (634 catches and 195 stumpings). Meanwhile, Karthik was often second in line behind Dhoni as India's wicket-keeping option and played a few games with him as a pure batter.
Karthik was part of the Indian sides which won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy under Dhoni's leadership.
Dinesh Karthik's original all-time India XI
Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Anil Kumble, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Jasprit Bumrah