IMAGE: Dinesh Karthik hits out Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Reuters
A mighty pleased Virat Kohli on Tuesday hinted at the possibility of including Dinesh Karthik in the playing eleven when India lock horns with Pakistan in their big-ticket ICC Champions Trophy opener on June 4.
Karthik staked a claim for a place in the middle-order by scoring a stylish 94 in India's thumping 240-run victory over Bangladesh in their second warm-up game at the Oval in London.
It will be interesting to see if he replaces veteran Yuvraj Singh, who missed the two practice
games due to illness, but is likely to recover in time for the Pakistan clash.
This was India's second win in as many practice matches, the first coming against New Zealand on Sunday.
"Both games we got what we wanted. Batsmen got runs, bowlers were outstanding as well. When the cloud cover comes in, it's difficult for the batsmen," Kohli said after the 240-run victory over their sub-continent rivals.
Put into bat, India notched up 324 for seven, and then skittled out Bangladesh for a meagre 84 in only 23.5 overs.
"We back Hardik (Pandya) and Kedar (Jadhav) to do the job for us down the order. Dinesh is an outstanding player, we just wanted to give him a longer run. We have ticked all the boxes in these games," Kohli added.
Shikhar Dhawan (60) got runs under his belt, while Hardik Pandya showed his utility as an all-rounder with an equally impactful unbeaten 80 off 54 balls.
India used just one over of spin as their pacers shared nine wickets between themselves.
