Hardik Pandya or Dinesh Karthik? horns of a dilemma for the Indian team management

India is all set to take one of the Proteas in a five-match T20I series at home. The Indian team for this series will be featuring a group of young players and also a few players returning to the national setup after a gap. This series will be seeing players like Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik returning to the team.

In India’s recent training session, it looked like Dinesh Karthik has impressed the Indian Head Coach, Rahul Dravid. He displayed a variety of shots during the session which impressed both Rahul Dravid and the batting coach Vikram Rathore. Even though Karthik is in India’s plan but it seems that Hardik Pandya will be taking the job of finisher for the first match of the series.

Hardik Pandya might get a nod ahead of Karthik because of his all-around abilities. Hardik has been at his best with the bat and the ball in the recently concluded Indian T20 League. But with an extended net session for Karthik, something is up for the Wicket-keeper batter also in part of the team management.

Karthik might be the backup plan for the ever-fragile Hardik Pandya. In case of an injury to Pandya, Karthik might be taking up the role for the team. Also, the fact that after the South African series India will be playing Ireland, and that too in the absence of the big names, Karthik will surely get a chance to showcase himself.

Notably, India has gone in with a two-squad approach for their upcoming assignments. While one team will be playing the T20I series against South Africa and Ireland, another team will be battling it out in an all-format series in England. The big names of the Indian cricket like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested for the South Africa series and will be next seen in action against England.

Hardik has been rested for a long time to regain his fitness and also his all-around form. All eyes will be on the star all-rounder and his return to the international arena.