What’s wrong with Dinesh Kaarthik that he always messes up spectacularly when pushed into the limelight? He’s lucky India won the third ODI, or that fumbled run-out of T. Dilshan (and the near-fumbled stumping of K. Sangakarra) would have landed him in serious danger.
But Kaarthik, believe it or not, isn’t all that bad a wicketkeeper, and he’s not at all a bad batsman either (I still remember him opening against England in England a couple of years ago, dealing with swing and a fiery R. Sidebottom).
On the other hand, you have to appreciate Kaarthik’s predicament: he only gets to play when he’s replacing M.S. Dhoni, India’s captain and best ODI batsman for some time now (and recipient of a Padma Shri award, apparently). That’s enough to add some pressure, not to mention Kaarthik’s unfortunate ability to look like a naive waif begging to be bullied (as his own teammate Ashish Nehra did during the IPL).
D Kaarthik would have to develop extraordinary batting skills to be a permanent part of Indian team since there is no replaceing Dhoni, at least for a couple of more years. Another opportunity may be when Dhoni starts playing as specialist batsman (la Snagakaara). Who knows? 🙂