T20 World Cup 2022: Dinesh Karthik suffered a back spasm while keeping wickets against South Africa on Sunday. He is racing against time to get fit for India’s Super 12 match against Bangladesh in Adelaide on Wednesday.

Dinesh Karthik picked up a back injury during India’s defeat to South Africa in Perth (AP Photo)

By India Today Web Desk: India head coach Rahul Dravid provided a positive update about Dinesh Karthik’s availability for their Super 12 match against Bangladesh, saying the veteran wicketkeeper has pulled up well for Tuesday’s practice session in Adelaide. Karthik picked up a back spasm during India’s defeat to South Africa in their 3rd match of T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday in Perth.

Karthik was not able to carry on wicketkeeping during the last two overs of South Africa’s chase of 134 runs and he was replaced by Rishabh Pant. Karthik was in pain as he walked off the field in the crunch situation before India went on to lose the thriller in the last over.

Speaking to the press on the eve of their crunch match against Bangladesh, Rahul Dravid said India will assess Dinesh Karthik during the training session on Tuesday and take a call on his availability on Wednesday morning. Notably, India were forced tot train indoors due to rain in Adelaide on Tuesday.

“He has pulled up pretty well today. he unfortunately had a back spasm when he jumped to collect a bouncer and he landed badly, he landed in a way that he just did his back a little bit. But, with treatment, he has pulled up really well, he has come to training,” Dravid said.

“We will see how it goes, we will assess him, we will see how he is after a good day’s practice session. We will put him through his paces and ensure we have given him a good workout and see if he pulls up tomorrow morning before making a final decision,” he added.

Karthik’s place in the side in the T20 World Cup has been questioned as the veteran wicketkeeper-batter has not been able to get going, managing just 7 runs in 3 matches. Karthik buckled under pressure in the last-over thriller against Pakistan in Melbourne and managed just 6 runs from 15 balls in tough conditions against South Africa in Perth.

However, Karthik hung in with Suryakumar Yadav in the middle against South Africa after India’s top-order was decimated by the Proteas pace attack. Karthik stitched a 52-run stand with Suryakumar but got out to a rash shot in the 16th over.

Rahul Dravid backed Karthik, saying the finisher’s role is not an easy one to execute and the team management will back the veteran wicketkeeper.

“Again, tough for someone like DK to assess how he has gone about. He got one ball against Pakistan in the backend, he did not bat against the Netherlands.

“I thought he was building a good partnership with Suryakumar against the Netherlands, we needed that little bit of partnership. It was set-up for him, you know again, it’s the nature of this game, you play the high-risk shot and get out in that shot, which is why people need to be supported and backed in these formats. You don’t get a lot of time before you go and play these high-risk shots. Our belief has always been to back and support players in those positions, so that come the critical time, they will be in the right frame of mind,” Dravid added.