Published 11:23 IST, October 21st 2019
Dinesh Karthik aims to be India's finisher in T20 World Cup
Dinesh Karthik who has been in sublime form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy aims to be in India's WC squad for the upcoming T20 WC playing the finisher's role.
Dinesh Karthik, who has been out of the Indian squad after the recently concluded 2019 ICC World Cup in England & Wales, has been in sublime finishing form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. The Tamil Nadu lad scored 97 off 62 balls against Bengal and then an even more, destructive innings of 65 not out off 28 balls against Madhya Pradesh.
Karthik is looking to find a spot in the national T20 side for the upcoming 2020 T20 World Cup as a finisher. Karthik's finishing abilities first came into limelight when he played a brilliant knock of 29 runs including a last-ball six against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy tri-series final in Colombo in 2018. In all, in the past two years in T20Is, nobody has stayed not out more than Karthik in a successful T20I chase. In the seven innings he has batted in when India have won chasing, Karthik has been there till the end on each occasion, scoring 141 runs at a strike rate of 142.42.
Dinesh Karthik aims to don the finisher's role
Karthik, 34, told a leading sports broadcaster ahead of the Vijay Hazare knockouts that the T20 World Cup is a year away but he feels if he can keep performing and have a good domestic tournament, he is sure he will go out there and play. He feels that Indian team is looking out for a finisher as well to close out matches and who can understand those situations and do the best at that point of time.
Dinesh Karthik said that he feels he had done that in the short time he had played T20Is for India. But, post the World Cup, he could not play because they clubbed his poor run at the World Cup with the T20 part of it and removed him from the team as well. But he feels that he is well-suited to play that role that Dhoni has played for so many years and he can do something like that as he has been doing that for KKR and Tamil Nadu. So, if a slot opens up there, that's something Karthik will be really looking forward to. The T20 World Cup is definitely something he wants to play.
Dinesh Karthik fell out of favour in ODI cricket after managing just 14 in two innings in the recently concluded World Cup, but he has been in stellar form as Tamil Nadu's finisher in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring 349 runs in six innings at an average of 87.25 and strike rate of just over 135. His finishing knocks have been central to Tamil Nadu notching up nine wins in as many games in the Group C league phase in Jaipur. He has scored four fifties so far in the tournament, all coming at Nos. 5 or 6.
Updated 16:00 IST, October 21st 2019