End of the road for Dinesh Karthik; Shreyas Iyer liked to be picked for WI tour

Karthik, who played three World Cup matches, made eight runs against Bangladesh and managed six in the semi-final against New Zealand, and did not get to bat against Sri Lanka

With Dinesh Karthik failing deliver in the two opportunities that he was given at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, the Tamil Nadu batsman may to staring down the barrel with regards to his international career, more specifically, the ODIs.

According to a report in The Mid-Day, the Nidahas Trophy hero, will not be picked for India’s tour of West Indies, starting August 3, when the senior selection committee meet to pick the team on Friday (July 19). ALSO READ: Virat Kohli willing to be part of full West Indies tour

Karthik, who played three World Cup matches, made eight runs against Bangladesh and managed six in the semi-final against New Zealand, and did not get to bat against Sri Lanka, was originally the second choice wicketkeeper for the Indian team, but with Rishabh Pant, flown in for injured Shikhar Dhawan, preferred ahead of him, it was clear signs that the team management is  looking beyond the middle-order batsman for a long-term replacement for MS Dhoni. ALSO READ: India vs West Indies: MS Dhoni will not tour, set to groom Rishabh Pant henceforth – report

The report further added that Mumbai batsman and a regular India A member Shreyas Iyer will most likely get the nod for the tour and could be tried at India’s Achilles Heal – the No.4 spot.

Iyer has scored 77, 2, 47 for India A against West Indies A in the ongoing tour and has been in rich vein of form in domestic cricket for over an year now. Iyer played last of his six ODIs against South Africa at Centurion in February 2018, before falling down on the pecking order for a spot in the World Cup squad. ALSO READ: India A vs West Indies A: Manish Pandey 100, Krunal Pandya 5/25 give visitors unassailable series lead

The selection committee is expected to make a few sweeping changes with young faces like Navdeep Saini, Shubman Gill likely to feature in the Indian squad for the WI tour. Veteran Manish Pandey, who also had racked up good numbers playing for India A, could also get one more crack at cementing his place in the Indian team during the WI tour.

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