Indian veteran wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has said he mistakenly left MS Dhoni out of his all-time India XI and apologized to fans for the wrong move. Karthik had picked his team on August 15 with no specialist wicket-keeper.
However, it was assumed that Karthik wanted Rahul Dravid to don the gloves as he did during his active days.
Meanwhile, Karthik clarified that not selecting Dhoni was a big blunder.
“I made a mistake as I forgot the wicket-keeper while selecting the team. Rahul Dravid was there, and fans thought I wanted a part-time wicketkeeper. I am a wicket-keeper myself but failed to pick one in my team. It was a blunder,” DK said on Cricbuzz.
Karthik also lauded Dhoni and said he would feature in any all-time XI.
“Dhoni would be there in any team. He is one of the greatest players to have ever played the game. If I had to make one change in my team, I would include Dhoni at number 7. He will be the captain of any Indian team,” he added.
Karthik once again forgot to mention who he would remove to find a place for Dhoni in the team. MSD scored over 17,000 runs at an average of 45 and was involved in 829 dismissals as a wicket-keeper. Karthik was always the second choice behind MS Dhoni. He played only a few games during Dhoni’s presence.
Dinesh was a part of the Indian teams that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Dinesh Karthik’s original all-time India XI
Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Anil Kumble, Jasprit Bumrah, and Zaheer Khan
12th man: Harbhajan Singh
