Dinesh Karthik doesn't have much of an ODI future, according to Sanjay Manjrekar

What's the story?

Former Indian cricketer and present commentator Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Dinesh Karthik is now being considered as a T20I specialist and that his ODI career might be over. Manjrekar made the surprising comment while in a conversation with ESPNCricinfo, in response to Karthik's exclusion from India's ODI squad to face Australia.

In case you didn't know...

Australia are set to tour India from 24th February to play two T20Is and five ODIs. The BCCI selection committee announced the squad two days ago for this series, and there were many surprises like KL Rahul being back in the squad, and Karthik being omitted from the ODIs. However, the latter has been picked for the T20I series.

The Indian selection committee also revealed that they had shortlisted 18 players for the World Cup 2019, and announced only a 16-man squad for the ODI series against Australia. Because of that, many feel that Karthik might still have an outside chance to seal a World Cup spot.

The heart of the matter

Ever since the team was announced, there have been mixed reactions from cricket experts and fans. Some think that excluding Karthik is the right move, and a few believe that he was removed based on the rotation policy. Most of them, however, feel that it was harsh on Karthik, as he didn't do anything wrong to be excluded from the ODI squad.

Adding to the above reaction, Manjrekar also feels that Karthik's ODI future is over, despite the fact that he has done well from the opportunities he has gotten so far. Here is what he said in the interview:

"His fans will feel sorry because with the opportunity he has got, he has done as well as he could. But I feel with this selection or non-selection of Karthik, India have told everyone that we look at Karthik as a T20 batsman, and his 50-over future is over as far as we are concerned."

What's next?

Karthik has got an opportunity to play two T20Is against Australia, and he also has the IPL to look forward to after that. If he performs well in these two series, he can send a strong message to the selectors for World Cup selection.