'Ashwin Started Well but Didn’t End Well': Karthik Names Teammate Who 'Would've Made a Lot More Damage' in T20 WC

The year 2022 saw Team India’s brilliance in the bilateral series at home but it had tough luck in multinational tournaments and overseas assignments. Following a horrendous South Africa tour, the Men in Blue outplayed the likes of the West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia. However, they suffered brutal drubbings when they stepped out of the country.

Rohit’s team failed to make it to the Asia Cup 2022 knockouts and a month later were mowed down by England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final. They may have won the Bangladesh Tests 2-0, but it came after a 1-2 ODI series defeat at the hands of Litton Das & Co.

Apart from the team’s performance on bigger stages, another massive point of discussion was Yuzvendra Chahal’s absence from the playing XI in the T20 World Cup Down Under. The wrist-spinner was a part of the 15-man squad but didn’t get a single game at the showpiece event.

Veteran India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who was also a part of the squad, stated that playing Chahal would’ve caused a ‘lot more damage’ to the opposition.

“These are all calls that are taken by the captain and coach with the belief they had in a certain player. To be fair, Ashwin started the tournament well but probably didn’t end well. But Chahal would’ve definitely made a lot more damage, it could’ve been an interesting choice. But hindsight is a very interesting thing to look at once the results come out,” said Karthik on Cricbuzz.

“All in all, if we look at the overall picture of the World Cup and Asia Cup, we expect a lot of better from Team India and that’s the right way to put it,” he added.

India will begin their 2023 by hosting Sri Lanka for three T20Is and as many ODIs. The series kickstarts on January 3 in Mumbai. All-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead a bunch of youngsters in the shortest format as all the senior players have been rested. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will return for the ODIs, beginning January 10 in Guwahati.

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