While Wriddhiman Saha continues to nurse his injury, the doors of opportunity also seem to be left ajar for Dinesh Karthik. For the first time in 11 years Dinesh Karthik will be part of the Test team in England after he was named as India’s lead wicket-keeper for the first three Tests in England.
Apart from Karthik, the selectors have also shown faith in 20-year-old Rishabh Pant, who has been in England with the India A side for quite some time. In the two five-day matches he played against West Indies A and England A, Pant managed scores of 3, 67 not out, 58 and 61.
Till India's last overseas tour, Karthik wasn't even in contention for the second wicket keeper spot. Parthiv was flown to South Africa as Saha's replacement after the latter picked up an injury.
It was the T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka which turned the tide in Karthik's favour. A last-ball six against Bangladesh not only sealed India's fate in the final but also kind of catapulted Karthik's career.
The one-off Test match against Afghanistan saw Karthik don the big gloves. Apart from his heroics with the bat, Karthik owes big time to Saha for his injury and Parthiv's perennial problem behind the stumps.
When Karthik started off for India as a 19-year-old and it was his skills behind the stumps which was under scanner and now 14 years down the line his wicket keeping techniques still continue to be his 'Achilles Heel'.
In fact, Karthik made his debut for India before Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But his wicket keeping let him down. In 2014, when Dhoni announced his Test retirement Karthik was again in fray for the Test spot but Wriddhiman Saha pipped him to the post since he was better behind the stumps. In the last four years, Saha has done enough to justify himself as the worthy successor of Dhoni as far as five-day cricket is concerned.
Karthik, who has travelled with the team to England for the T20Is and ODIs as the reserve keeper, has featured only in one game till now.
Rishabh Pant's elevation as the Karthik's deputy for the first three Tests has come as a surprise.
The southpaw has shown promise but only with the bat and that too only in the shorter formats. He was exceptional in this edition of the Indian Premier League but unfortunately, he didn't enjoy a similar luck in the Ranji Trophy.
This is for the first time that the selectors have shown fate in Pant for the longer format. Otherwise he was in reckoning to succeed Dhoni in the limited-overs format. He was part of the Indian squad that toured West Indies last year but only managed to play one T20, despite Dhoni's lacklustre performance.
Pant, who is yet to prove his mettle in the Tests, had a below average Ranji season where he managed to score 35 runs in 7 matches. More importantly it is his skill behind the stumps which still needs a lot of polishing.
With Wriddiman Saha out for months with an upcoming shoulder surgery and Parthiv Patel squandering his chances in South Africa, we can expect the fresh Karthik and Pant duel to intensify.
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