Online Sports Desk
Former Indian spinner Murali Karthik has offered a rare voice in support of the Gautam Gambhir-Shreyas Iyer duo for their treatment of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Karthik said he’s not in favor of dropping either Sanju Samson or Abhishek Sharma ‘for the sake of it’, saying Sooryavanshi needs to be patient for an opening, like one of the batters being injured or getting into a long, poor patch of form.
Karthik’s comments came after Sooryavanshi was benched for the entire five-match series against the West Indies at home. India won two and lost two matches before the decider was washed out. Though Samson and Abhishek didn’t quite click as a partnership, the former hit two half-centuries, and the latter also managed one with three quick 20s, doing enough to hold on to the spots.
Karthik said Samson and Abhishek might be a bit inconsistent, but that was not enough of a reason for him to drop one.
“Yes, we get excited because he (Sooryavanshi) is an exciting talent,” he said, as quoted by India Today. “We are not taking anything away, but at the end of the day, it’s like Yashasvi Jaiswal in white-ball cricket. Do you make the change just for the sake of it, just to knock somebody off? I don’t think I am in favor of that.”
Karthik pointed to Gambhir and Shreyas’s recent statements about how they were keeping Sooryavanshi in the loop, and said it was the right thing to do.
“Even if you have to give them the harsh truth, it’s better to give it to them, because you take it on your chin. You might not like it; it’s not palatable for a while, but it is what it is. You have to deal with it and move on.”
“I think that is the best way to go about things. Because Shreyas has spoken about it, Gautam has spoken about it, I’m pretty sure they’re having the right word with Sooryavanshi, because he’s there. Nobody is saying that he’s not there. It’s just that sometimes when the others are doing well, you cannot. It is unfortunate, but it is what it is,” said Karthik.
