May 19: TN’s wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, who is part of IPL team Gujarat Lions, has been invited to replace injured Manish Pandey in India’s squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy, BCCI announced on Thursday.
Manish Pandey had suffered a side strain while on an IPL practice session with Kolkata Knight Riders.
Dinesh Karthik, who was part of the country’s 2013 Champions Trophy winning team, has been in superb form of late, thanks to his participation in the recent domestic matches. He has scored tons of runs for Gujarat Lions in IPL season 10. Averaging 36.10, Dinesh has made 361 runs in a total of 14 matches.
Meanwhile, defending champions India is gearing up to play their first Group B match against arch rivals Pakistan on June 4 at Birmingham.
India has a better record against Pakistan when it comes to recent ICC tournaments. They have defeated Pakistan 11 times in ODIs and T20s.
Nevertheless, Pakistan has a better record in ICC Champions Trophy with two wins and just one loss against India.
It may be noted that India defeated hosts England by just 5 runs to take home Champions Trophy 2013. The only major difference in CT 2017 Squad is that the side will be playing under its new captain Virat Kohli this time around.
Ms Dhoni, who led team India to victory in Champions Trophy 2013, is in CT 2017 Squad as well.
Virat Kohli, who is blooming into a confident skipper, has done well with his bat too of late. India was able to beat England in the ODI series under Virat’s captaincy. His team will now face Sri Lanka and South Africa and archrivals Pakistan in Champions Trophy 2017’s group matches.