Former India opener Gautam Gambhir reckons that the Indian team management should continue with Dinesh Karthik for the third Test at Trent Bridge, despite the fact that the wicketkeeper-batsman failing with the bat in all the four innings that he has played in the series so far. In the ongoing 5-match Test series against England So far, Karthik hasn’t done something recognizable as he has scores of 0, 20, 1 & 0 in the four innings that he has played.  

After losing the first two Tests, Team India is trailing by a huge margin and they must be looking for some crucial changes for the third match. The young Delhi wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant is widely expected to replace struggling Karthik in the playing XI in Nottingham.

WATCH – Dinesh Karthik instructed Ravichandran Ashwin in Tamil

However, Gambhir feels that Pant has time on his side and he will get enough chances in future to play in the longest format, he said, “There will always be a temptation (to play Pant). I still feel that Karthik is at that stage of his career, it’s now or never. So you got to always give someone an extra Test match than one lesser. People would be expecting for him to deliver with the amount of comebacks he’s made but those conditions are tough.”

As quoted in Times of India, Gambhir said, “If you don’t give him an opportunity in the next Test match or one more after that, we might never see him again. Rishabh can wait. He has a lot of years ahead of him. Because six innings, to be honest, can give you a better idea where the batter is.”

Earlier, Sourav Ganguly and Dilip Vengsarkar both had advocated for Pant to be included in the playing XI in the third Test.