Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he would definitely want to see Dinesh Karthik boarding the flight to Australia as a part of India’s T20 World Cup squad later this year. Karthik’s performance for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022 has been nothing short of phenomenal. The fact that Karthik’s performance has come while batting mostly at number 6 or 7 in this year’s IPL, makes his chances brighter as India have been struggling to find a bankable finisher ever since MS Dhoni decided to hang his boots.
Heaping praise on Karthik, Harbhajan said, the veteran wicketkeeper-batter understands his game well and takes his chances according to the match situation.
“Dinesh Karthik has been outstanding for RCB. He is very good at leg side shots than his off sides, excellent at taking singles but I think, over all he understands his game very well. Whenever he is left with last chances, he makes sure that he finishes the game. For me, if anyone has played the best role of a finisher in this entire IPL then it is none other than Dinesh Kartik. If I were a selector I would have given him a ticket to Australia for World Cup T20 and let him play for India as wicket keeper and batsman because he deserves that,” Harbhajan said while speaking during the Gameplan episode on Star Sports.
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Karthik is RCB’s second highest run-scorer this season despite not batting in the top four. The right-hander has scored 274 runs in 12 matches at a mind-boggling strike rate of 200.
Harbhajan also hoped that Karthik gets chance to come into the game earlier and leave a bigger impact.
“And if ever Indian Cricket team needs the best finisher then it should be Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya as they make a very powerful side. Anyway, I have gone deep into the future but yeah once again, I must say Dinesh Karthik has been incredible this season and I hope he gets a chance to bat a little early. 15 to 16 overs are enough for him to finish the game,” he added.
When asked about Karthik’s effect on RCB this season, coach Sanjay Bangar stated that he is also helping out the younger players to get the best out of them.
“Dinesh Karthik has been pretty good for us, we chose him for a particular role because we knew that since after AB de Villiers left that’s gonna be a big hole to fill. With his balance and skill set he has actually got the best out of our younger batsmen who bat at the middle order with him, so even at times he has batted with Mahipal Lomror or at times with Shahbaz or with couple other batsmen and he’s used all his experience not only taking that experience into his game but also how he’s got the young batsmen to play around him is indeed a credit to his contribution to the team,” Bangar said on RCB show.
