"A gun player in ICC tournaments"- Dinesh Karthik names an ideal opener for Team India for 2023 ODI World Cup

After the T20 World Cup in 2022, the entire focus of world cricket will shift to the 50-over game. The next big ICC event will be held in India between October and November 2023, which will be the ODI World Cup 2023.

Thus, all the teams will be scheduled to play more ODI matches in the coming months to get prepared for the next mega event. Team India has also shifted to the ODIs in order to find out their best combination for the 50-over game.

The Indian team management has some areas to address ahead of the ODI World Cup in both batting and bowling. India will have a bit different squad from the last edition in 2019 as former Indian captain MS Dhoni has retired while the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Mayank Agarwal and Kedar Jadhav are not in the radar.

Among the active players that featured in the last edition, one of the most prominent names will be veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, who did a really good job in the last edition as well before he was ruled out due to injury.

He is now only featuring in the ODI format for India and will be a vital player going forward. Veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik also reckons that despite India trying various opening combinations, Dhawan will be a sureshot inclusion in the team.

In a discussion on Cricbuzz, Karthik said that Dhawan is a trusted opener for India and has always done well in the big tournaments. He also added that it will be a good opportunity for the southpaw to lead a team in the IPL ahead of the ODI World Cup.

Karthik said, "He has been a gun player in ICC tournaments, somebody who rises to the occasion, and he plays at a fair clip consistently. Even in the 2019 World Cup, he really did well before getting injured. So, he is somebody you can bank on unless something drastically changes in terms of his form completely falling off."

Dhawan is currently in New Zealand, leading the Indian team in the ongoing three-match ODI series. India is trailing by 1-0 after a loss in the first game, and the second game was washed out due to rain. The third and final game will be played on Wednesday in Christchurch.