The 2022 India Premier League marked the greatest comeback of the decade in the cricketing history with the wicket-keeper batsmen turned commentator Dinesh Karthik’s historic feat by scoring a total of 330 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 183 that swayed him right into the Indian National T20I team for the South Africa tour.
During the training session for the same at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Dinesh Karthik’s heart-warming smile remained constant right ahead of the first T20I. Playing a remarkable hand for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the latest season of IPL, Karthik realised his dream of being back in the India squad; the veteran cricketer is back in the squad after a long due period of almost 3 years. As the head coach Rahul Dravid reiterated, he is a going to be India’s finest prospect as a finisher for the opening game to be held on 9th June, 2022.
According to Dravid’s statement, Karthik was chosen for the Indian squad solely on the basis of his spectacular performance as a finisher for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Expressing the same, Dravid said, “Dinesh… his story is it’s pretty obvious… Very clear that he been able to make a comeback based on the abilities as a finisher that he has portrayed in a particular phase of the game. At that backend, Karthik has really been able to show great consistency for the last 2-3 years. He has made a difference in whichever team he has played, that’s why he has been picked,”
As the head coach believes, Karthik was at his level best during the entire season, especially during the last five overs of an innings, which remains the most crucial. He has hit over 22 sixes in the tournament and majority of it came in the death overs, which is a true sign of an ideal finisher. Dravid expressed his hope that the veteran cricketer will be able to put up such a standardized performance in the upcoming series against South Africa as well.
Adding more to his remarks, Dravid said, “He has been selected to bat in a kind of position which is quite crucial and analyse if he can replicate the same performances for the Indian National team as well.”
On Monday, right ahead of the first encounter between India and South Africa, Dinesh Karthik was recorded to have spent around 15 minutes solely for the practice of the flick shot, the ramp shot, as well as the scoop, the favourites of his. As has been in the news, Karthik’s success rate in the net session was almost around 50%, which is quite respiratory in terms of his return after 3 years of gap.
