The veteran Indian cricketer, Dinesh Karthik might get a chance to feature in a game in a 50-over ICC World Cup 2019. The tournament will be contested in a round-robin format from May 30 to July 14 in England and Wales. Karthik was part of the 2007 World Cup squad but couldn’t find a place in the playing XI. 

Ahead of the World Cup 2019, Dinesh expressed that he loves spending time with youngsters in the camp, especially KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya. As per the quotes in PTI, Karthik said, “Those two names matter a lot to me. I am very close to them in this Indian team. If either of them was not there in the team I would have been very sad. At the end of the day, you do make close friends as you go along in the journey.”

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The Tamil Nadu batsman made an international debut around fifteen years ago and he faced a lot of ups and downs in his career still he remains a topic of discussion and therefore, “relevant”, in his own words. After the World Cup squad was announced on April 15, Karthik was the topic of discussion for many people as most of them questioned his selection over the highly-talented Rishabh Pant.

Chief selector MSK Prasad tried to settle the debate by saying that reserve keeper Karthik as he further explained, “I would not still be playing if it was not for the blessings of my friends and family. Good or bad, if people still talk about you it means that you have managed to stay relevant. It is extremely satisfying that I have managed to stay relevant all these years and still trying hard to be part of the team.”

Since it’s difficult for Karthik could not replace Dhoni behind the stumps, he had a chance to play as a specialist batsman to keep his spot in the team since the Champions Trophy in 2017. However, there were doubts over his World Cup spot as he was dropped from the ODI series against Australia.

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Talking about his selection, Karthik said, “I was a bit shocked (after not being picked for Australia series) but I had faith that you know if it is meant to be. In the end, I was picked for my performances over the last two years. But the key is not for me to look back at the last two years, the greatest tournament is going to happen and I now have the opportunity to play there. It doesn’t matter what the word is going around. What is important to me is that I have got an opportunity and there are people who believe in me and have faith in me, I need to go out there and stand up for my country.”