“His Career Was On The Line…”: Dinesh Karthik Picks ‘Selfless’ Batter As Virat Kohli’s First-Choice Replacement

Virat Kohli is still one of the world’s best batters. However, whenever he decides to step down, Dinesh Karthik has named the player who will be his “first-choice” replacement.

Regardless of the format, Indian cricket is brimming with talent in all departments, whether it’s Test cricket, T20s, or ODIs. Occasionally, stories about deserving players not getting the necessary opportunities in the team make headlines. It’s been a similar story for Rahul Tripathi, a batter who has won the hearts of many with his ‘selfless’ performances whenever given the chance. Dinesh Karthik, a veteran Indian wicket-keeper batter, believes Tripathi should be the ‘first-choice’ option when the selectors look for a replacement for Kohli.

Karthik brilliantly expressed the value that Tripathi brings to the table. Karthik knows how important a ‘team player’ Tripathi is from his time with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“Whatever I’m about to say isn’t just for Rahul Tripathi; it’s for all cricket fans who follow Indian cricket closely. Please don’t suffer from temporary amnesia in the near future, because the names that will take his place will be big. Then we could look at the score and say he just got a 40 or a 30 “He stated.

As a result, the veteran wicket-keeper batter believes Tripathi should be Kohli’s first-choice replacement if the latter decides to retire.

“I don’t think we should forget that in 3 or 6 months. Maybe he’ll have a good IPL, maybe he won’t, but he deserves to be in the Indian team’s top three whenever that happens. If Virat Kohli chooses to play, that is fine, but if Virat Kohli is unavailable, he should be the first choice, not someone who has done well elsewhere “Karthik elaborated.