Dinesh Karthik is set to make his India comeback when KL Rahul and co take on South Africa for a five-match home-series, starting June 9. The Royal Challengers Bangalore finisher scored 330 runs in 16 matches at a staggering strike rate of 183. The 37-year-old had scored 376 runs in 8 matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this year, including a hundred in the final. 

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Going against Sri Lanka, the Indian team management would have the T20 World Cup in mind. The tourament will take place in Australia later this year. 

While several new faces made it to India’s squad vs South Africa, Karthik, who has 94 ODIs and 32 T20Is under his belt, is one of the oldest. With Rishabh Pant, the vice-captain of the team, behind the stumps, the RCB star might not get the glove duties but he will surely be looked as a finisher. 

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Speaking on Karthik’s role ahead of the series, India coach Rahul Dravid said, “With Dinesh, it’s pretty obvious. It’s very clear that he has made a comeback based on the skills that he has shown in a particular phase of the game. At that backend, Dinesh has really been able to show great consistency for the last 2 to 3 years. He has been able to make a difference in whichever team he has played.”

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“I don’t see it any different and that’s why he has been picked. He has been picked to bat in that kind of position and see whether he can replicate those kind of performances for India.”

India T20I squad: KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(vc) (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.