A Grade 1 side-strain which the wicket-keeper-batsman suffered during the second Test against New Zealand has ruled the skipper out of the forthcoming Asia Cup starting in Bangladesh on February 25. A BCCI release said that Dhoni would be undergoing rehabilitation of 10 days, thus opening the door for Dinesh Karthik.
"It feels good to be back in the Indian squad. It's an opportunity that I always relish," Karthik told TOI soon after he got the news that he was back in the team.
Dhoni shouldn't mind the break though. Many experts reckon that the Indian skipper has lost his Midas touch and the flamboyance has evaporated from his leadership as he plays in all three formats.
He has been playing continuously since October and his back keeps hurting him from time to time. The skipper has always played through pain, but with the T20 World Cup coming up right after the Asia Cup, Dhoni didn't want to take a chance.
The enforced break will also allow Dhoni to introspect and find out where he has been going wrong, both as a captain and batsman, especially on overseas sojourns.
It will also mean that Virat Kohli, who has long been looked at as Dhoni's heir apparent, will get a chance to lead India for the first time in a multi-nation tournament involving more than three teams.
He was in charge for four matches in the Tri-series in West Indies, when the skipper was nursing an injury, but Dhoni came back in the final against Sri Lanka to win the game in dramatic fashion.
Virat was also captain when India travelled to Zimbabwe and blanked the minnows 5-0.
The biggest beneficiary of Dhoni's injury is undoubtedly Karthik. He was dropped from the Indian team despite a decent show in the Champions Trophy and the Tri-series in West Indies in June-July and the latest recall will come as redemption for him.
"There's no point looking back, I will try to give my best in the chances that I will get in Bangladesh," Karthik stressed. Lady luck certainly seems to be smiling on Karthik again. Only last week, he was snapped up by Delhi Daredevils for Rs 12.5 crores in the IPL auction.
The Tamil Nadu stumper had made it to the Indian team before Dhoni (England 2004), but the Indian skipper's pyrotechnics with the bat ever since his explosive 148 against Pakistan, in Vizag, in April 2005 his stocks were always on the rise.
His more than efficient glovework only made it more difficult for competitors and barring an injury or illness, there was no scope for a second wicket-keeper batsman to play in the team.
Karthik has always been looked as a back-up and most of the opportunities that he has got in ODIs and T20s since Dhoni's debut, have always been as a specialist batsman. "True, it hasn't happened for a while now.
It's good to know that I will be playing the games as a wicket-keeper batsman, but the bigger challenge is to perform. I have done well in domestic cricket this season and now I have to do it at the international stage," Karthik added.
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