Sunil Gavaskar 'surprised' with Rohit-led India's decision to not include Dinesh Karthik for Pakistan tie

India lost to Pakistan in another thrilling encounter between both sides in the Asia Cup 2022 edition, being held in the UAE. After beating their arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets in the group stage, India looked tomake it two wins in a row during the Super Four matchversus the Men in Green but the script favoured Babar Azam & Co. Opting to bowl first, Pakistan bowlers didn't start well with Rohit Sharma-KL Rahul going all-out before the opposition bowlers somehow restricted India to 181/7 in 20 overs.

Losing Babar and Fakhar Zaman for cheap, Pakistan were in a tricky position before Mohammad Rizwan-Mohammad Nawaz's 73-run third-wicket stand kept them in the run-chase. Eventually, Rizwan's 71, Nawaz's 20-ball 42 and cameos from Asif Ali-Khusdil Shah took Pakistan to a famous five-wicket win on the penultimate ball of the contest. After the loss, former Indian opener-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar opined on Rohit & Co.'s team selection. It is interesting to note that Dinesh Karthik wasn't preferred in the playing XI, who was part of the line-up with Rishabh Pant benched during both sides' earlier face-off in the tournament.

"Dropping Dinesh Karthik, that was something that was a little bit hard to understand. Here, you have already identified him as a finisher. And, in this big game against Pakistan, you don’t pick him in the team. So, that was a bit of a surprise," Gavaskar told India Today after India's 5-wicket loss.

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With Ravindra Jadeja ruled out due to a knee injury, India went ahead with Pant as the keeper-batter and Deepak Hooda playing as a finisher-cum-extra-bowling option. Thus, it made DK warm the bench versus Pakistan in the marquee clash at the iconic Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. However, Hooda didn't bowl a single over despite expensive spells from Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal.

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Further, Gavaskar lauded Virat Kohli for regaining form, which keeps India in good stead going ahead in the Asian championship and the forthcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, from October-November. "We certainly have, he was middling the ball from the first ball he faced. There were a couple of terrific shots, the pull shot was the best of them all and even the flick for six to get to his fifty, there were some excellent shots. Most importantly, he was middling all the shots apart from one from the leg-spinner. Otherwise, everything was from the middle of the bat.

"That's what gives batter confidence. It's not the number of runs that you score, how you batted, he has batted quite superbly in this game against Pakistan. That augurs really well for India in the matches to come, "the legendary cricketer added.