Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik has backed the inclusion of Devdutt Padikkal in India’s squad for the two-match Test series against the West Indies. Padikkal recently scored a fine knock of 150 runs in the first unofficial Test match against Australia A at Lucknow.
Meanwhile, Karun Nair had failed to grab his opportunity on the England tour, managing 205 runs in four Test matches. Thus, Padikkal can bat at number five against the West Indies.
Earlier, Padikkal had suffered a hamstring injury, which had ruled him out of the latter stages of IPL 2025.
Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz, “I really feel Devdutt being given an opportunity is a good thing because he has got 80 in Australia (for India A last year). He’s got skills because Australia is a very hard place to play and he got runs there. And the England series last year, he got a 50 in Dharamsala. So he has earned his stripes. He got injured and that’s why Karun Nair came into the squad. Otherwise Devdutt would have been part of the squad from day one in England. So he has earned his recall into the Indian team.”
On the other hand, Karthik reckons Nair’s exclusion from India’s Test squad is tough on the batter but feels he could have scored more runs on the England tour to cement his place.
“The fact that Karun Nair is not looked at anymore means they are moving on from him, which is very tough on him. I think he played in one of the toughest series on tough pitches. But in all fairness, he’ll look back himself and say, ‘Could I have scored more runs in a couple of innings at the start, in the first three Tests?’ Because in the last Test, he got a 50 on a tough pitch,” said Karthik.
“I can promise you if he was playing this series, he would get runs. It’s almost a given, the way he’s batting. The fact is they are saying, ‘Big series, we have him an opportunity and he didn’t deliver. So we move on to somebody young for the future’.”
The opening Test match between India and West Indies will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, from October 2 onwards.
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