Murali Kartik reckons Dinesh Karthik is a better fit in the middle order over Suresh Raina

After winning the first T20I in Manchester, Team India lost the following contest in Cardiff and will play the decider today at the County Ground in Bristol. Their batting was a tad jittery in the last match as none of their players could chip in with a significant score. Suresh Raina, who didn’t get to bat in the first match, played a useful knock of 27 runs from 20 balls with a couple of boundaries and a four.

More importantly, he built a solid 57-run stand with Indian captain Virat Kohli and bailed the Men in Blue out from a precarious position with the score at 22/3 in 4.5 overs. The southpaw perished to Adil Rashid in the 13th over. Despite the gutsy knock, Murali Kartik, the former Indian spinner, believes that Dinesh Karthik would be better suited in the lineup.

“I was a bit surprised”- Kartik

“Look, one spot you might look at is Suresh Raina. Yes, he did bat well, but what is the role you have is the only thing because most of his numbers and runs have come at the number, which has been taken over by KL Rahul and you can’t expect Virat Kohli to bat any further down. So is there a chance for somebody like Karthik to be brought into the team because he can play different sort of roles.

He has always been the aggressor and that’s the role he has generally be seen in, coming at five, six, seven and it’s something they can look at. I would always play him, I was a bit surprised and this is something which I asked Virat as well. I said that it must be tough for him to drop somebody like Karthik, but such is the strength in the team,” Karthik was quoted as saying in Match Day, a show by ESPNCricinfo.

In four matches on India’s tour of the United Kingdom (UK), Karthik only played in a solitary game, the second T20I versus Ireland at the Malahide Cricket Ground. However, he didn’t bat in the contest. It will be interesting to see whether the team management decides to make any change and drafts in Karthik or not.

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