Veteran wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has cheekily put his case forward for keeping wickets after Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha were sent into isolation. Incidentally, the Asian Giants will miss both the wicket-keepers for the warm-up game against Durham’s select county championship XI from July 20.
Pant had tested positive for COVID-19 on July 8 and has been in isolation in a relative’s house ever since. He has not travelled with the squad to Durham and will miss the practice game.
On the other hand, Wriddhiman Saha has also been advised to serve a quarantine by BCCI’s medical team after coming in contact with India’s throwdown specialist Dayanand Garani, who is the second member to contract the deadly virus.
Taking note of the situation, Dinesh Karthik posted a picture on Twitter of his kit bag cheekily saying that he is ready to keep wickets for India in this crisis. He captioned it:
“Just saying”.
😋 #justsaying pic.twitter.com/zX3ValErDc
— DK (@DineshKarthik) July 15, 2021
KL Rahul to don the wicket-keeper’s gloves in the warm-up match
KL Rahul, who has been touring with Team India as a third opener, is likely to keep wickets in the warm-up game against Durham’s select county championship XI.
The Emirates Riverside ground in Durham will host the game, which starts on July 20 (Tuesday). The match will be played strictly behind closed doors and will be streamed live via the Durham Cricket Youtube channel.
“Both Pant and Saha will be unavailable for the team’s practice game against Combined County XI at Chester-le-Street at Durham from July 20, which means KL Rahul should be going the glovework in that game. However, Pant should be able to make it to the team’s second practice match – an intra-squad game from July 28,” a report in TOI quoted a source as saying.
KL Rahul will look to make the opportunity count with an opener’s slot up for grabs after Shubman Gill was ruled out from the entire series with an injury.
