He has put in consistent performances in the T20 format, the highlight being the Nidahas Trophy blitz, but Dinesh Karthik’s ultimate goal is to lift the upcoming T20 World Cup. The veteran wicketkeeper was picked for the exhibition event in Australia as India named a star-studded 15-man squad on Monday. The Rohit Sharma-led side have picked two wicketkeepers – Rishabh Pant, who gives India the option to play a free-flowing left-arm batsman, and Karthik, who plays a key finisher role where he gets little time to get into the limelight.
At 37, Karthik provides a late impetus to the Indian innings. He was part of the team that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, but had a seven-year spell from 2010 to 2017 that did not give him a single T20 game. The Tamil Nadu cricketer currently has a defined role as he has reveled in his new batting assignment in the last few overs.
When Karthik was selected for the T20 World Cup squad, he shared a heartwarming tweet that aptly captures his journey over the past few months. “Dreams do come true,” he wrote. The bigger vision is that I want to play for the country. I know the World Cup is around the corner. I desperately want to be a part of this World Cup and help India cross that line,” said Karthik during his stellar IPL 2022 run with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
It has been a long time since India won a multi-nation tournament. I want to be that person who helps India in this. You have to be aware of so many things to do that, try to be that player that people think, “Hey, this guy is doing something special. I practice every day with this intention in my mind. Credit goes to my trainer who put me through so many exercises to make sure I got the best out of myself. As you age, it’s important to stay fit. I tried my best to do it,” he added.
India began their World T20 campaign with a blockbuster on October 23 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Melbourne. The hotly anticipated game will also feature Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel as India welcome the pair back into their pace mix. India’s top four batting remained unchanged with captain Rohit, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. Seasoned Ravichandran Ashwin was also selected as the second spinner behind Yuzvendra Chahal. Fast bowling duo Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar, middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi remained on call.
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