Dinesh Karthik and Ravichandran Ashwin have been significant parts of the Indian squad. However, BCCI decided to not include these two players in T20I matches anymore. Both of them have not been included in the New Zealand tour as well, though the Selection Committee chairman Chetan Sharma stated it was due to workload management.
The T20 WC will be their last time in this format after which India will be preparing for the T20 World Cup.
“It’s a cycle. Both Ashwin and Karthik have been excellent for India. But we have to move on. Karthik and Ashwin are not getting any younger and we have to keep the 2024 WC in mind. There are a lot of youngsters coming up through the IPL and domestic cricket and we have to reward them as well. Ashwin will continue to play crucial role in Test. For Karthik since he plays just one format, it’s little difficult to continue with him” – A BCCI official said
Chetan Sharma hasn’t yet revealed te transition plan. He confirmed that Dinesh Karthik was rested for workload management, although he has been a part of only 27 matches and faced 198 deliveries.
“The World Cup is going to finish in some days and so we need to decide whom to rest or not. Karthik has been performing and he is available to us. But this time we just thought of trying a different set of players after the World Cup,” Sharma said
Ashwin had been previously informed that he wasn’t in the T20I plans. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma insisted the selectors include Ashwin T20s. Previously, he was dropped for 8 months and returned to the squad before Asia Cup.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be focusing on the ODIs since the ICC World Cup will take place in 2024. However, they’ll continue to play for T20Is.
Read more: Here are the Indian squads for the upcoming New Zealand and Bangladesh series