Why Dinesh Karthik dropped: Why is Jadeja not playing today’s Asia Cup Super 4 match between India and Pakistan in Dubai?

Dixit Bhargav | 04/09/2022
Why Dinesh Karthik dropped: Why is Jadeja not playing today's Asia Cup Super 4 match between India and Pakistan in Dubai?

Why Dinesh Karthik dropped: India have made three changes to their Playing XI for this match against Pakistan.

During the eighth match of the ongoing 15th edition of the Asia Cup between India and Pakistan in Dubai, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has won the toss and chose to bowl.

“We will bowl first. The dew could be a factor, that’s the reason we’re bowling first. We had a lot of positives from the last match against India,” Azam told Star Sports at the toss.

With Pakistan bringing in pacer Mohammad Hasnain for injured pacer Shahnawaz Dahani, expect the Indian top-order to be tested yet again at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Why Dinesh Karthik dropped?

Much like his counterpart, India captain Rohit Sharma also wanted to bowl first in this match. Laying emphasis on “playing freely”, Sharma didn’t shy away from hinting that the Indian opening batters will go all guns blazing against Pakistan tonight.

“We would have bowled first but now we need to play freely and assess a good score on this pitch. Momentum counts in this format. You’ve to be on the money from the start, not worry about external pressures,” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.

India have made three changes to their Playing XI. Injured all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (ruled out of Asia Cup), veteran wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik and unwell pacer Avesh Khan have been left out for all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Deepak Hooda and spinner Ravi Bishnoi.

Player of the Match in the last India-Pakistan T20I at this venue, Pandya was always expected to be back for this match. In the absence of a fourth pacer in their 15-member squad, one out of Bishnoi or Ravichandran Ashwin was expected to replace Khan.

However, India leaving out Karthik after limited opportunities in two matches is a bit of a surprise after him being preferred over Pant only a week ago. Neither Sharma was asked about the rationale behind this move nor he himself threw light on it. A potential reason behind Pant playing ahead of Karthik is the lack of a left-handed batter in India’s XI in Jadeja’s absence.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
asia cup Asia Cup 2022 dinesh karthik India Pakistan Ravi Bishnoi Ravindra Jadeja

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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