Dinesh Karthik shares his thoughts on India’s future XI for Test cricket

After an agonizing defeat against Australia in the WTC final at The Oval, Team India has been at the receiving end of some serious backlash. Except for the final session on Day 4, India was completely down and out of the equation throughout the game and seemed far from troubling the Australians.

With another so-close-yet-so-far story running predominant, there have been talks about a major overhaul of the Indian Test team. With a new cycle beginning in the World Test Championship, opinions on how the Indian Test XI should look for the next cycle have started to come in. Chiming in with his two-pence, Dinesh Karthik made it very clear that India should be eyeing fresh faces to rebuild this team instead of going forward with the ones who are already a part of the current Indian mould.

Talking on Cricbuzz, DK said, “I think a bit of both. In many ways, we know that a lot of them are in their mid-30s. So few questions there for Rahul Dravid, who he wants to keep and who he wants to move on with. Now other names that you said, Bumrah, Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Pant. Iyer will walk into this team. Let's make it very obvious. I think they warrant a place in the team. In this cycle, they have been one of the key reasons why we are sitting here and talking in England today because that's the kind of success they have helped India achieve.”

He further added, “No. 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal. He has had a phenomenal domestic season. Are we going to find a place for him? No. 2 Sarfaraz Khan. Now that's been a big name doing the rounds for some time now in the middle order. If you want to fit him in, who are you going to leave out and then followed by the Mukesh Kumars and the rest of them, is there a place for a new medium pacer to come in and stamp his authority over a period of time? Are you going to give him that two-year cycle?"

DK continued, “Let's be very honest. I think Shami and Siraj were very good. But Umesh and Shardul as bowlers weren't as effective as Dravid and Rohit would have thought it to be. So, yes Shardul contributed with the bat. But are we always going to look at him as a bowler who can bat or a pure all-rounder? I would think more as a bowler who can bat. And Umesh, where do you see him in the context of things?"

A lot of questions have been posed around the Indian cricket team’s Test side of things, and it remains to be seen how they’re answered in due course of time.