Dinesh Karthik admitted on Thursday, August 22, that he made a significant mistake by excluding MS Dhoni from his all-time India XI. The omission of Dhoni took many fans by surprise, leading Karthik to address the matter and apologise for the blunder.
Karthik expressed his regret after facing backlash from fans for leaving out one of India’s greatest captains. Last week, Karthik revealed his all-time India XI, and the absence of Dhoni left many shocked. However, in the latest episode of his show, Karthik clarified what went wrong and how the snub happened. According to Karthik, it was an honest oversight, and he simply forgot to include a wicketkeeper while assembling the team. Many fans assumed that Karthik intended to have Rahul Dravid take on wicketkeeping duties.
"Guys, I made a big mistake. It was genuinely an error. I only realised it after the episode aired. There were so many things happening at the time that I forgot to include a wicketkeeper when I made the XI. Luckily, Rahul Dravid was there, and everyone assumed I chose him as a part-time wicketkeeper. But honestly, I didn’t even think of Dravid in that role. Can you believe it? As a wicketkeeper myself, I forgot to add one to my team. It’s a huge blunder," Karthik confessed.
Karthik went on to emphasise that Dhoni is an automatic pick in any format and hailed him as one of the greatest cricketers of all time. He stated that if given the opportunity to redo the team, Dhoni would be included at No. 7 and would also captain the side.
"For me, let’s be clear: Thala Dhoni is a lock in any format, not just in India. I believe he’s one of the greatest cricketers ever. If I could redo the team, the one change I’d make is putting Thala Dhoni in at 7, and he’d be the captain of any Indian team," Karthik added.
Karthik’s original XI included Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Anil Kumble, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, and Jasprit Bumrah.