Dinesh Karthik – The T20 batsman India needs
The T20 World Cup 2021 is scheduled to take place in India later this year. After lifting the trophy in its inaugural edition in 2007, the Indian team is yet to get its hands around it for the second time. In a bid to get there, India will have to iron out their chinks and choose the best from the available talent pool. But what if I told you that India are ignoring their best T20 finisher present at the moment. Here’s the case.
Dinesh Karthik, the player of the match in India’s first-ever T20 match, has played only 31 more matches in the next 14-15 years. However, his T20I record is outrageous. An average of 33.25 combined with the strike rate of 143.52 shows what he has offered in the 20-over format. When batting in the middle order, it gets even better. Karthik’s average of 51.71 and strike rate of 154.04 is better than every other Indian who has batted in 10 or more innings at the batting positions from four to seven.
India have trialled plenty of batsmen in the lower middle order. It’s a very tricky position to bat in since it requires the batsman to show a tremendous balance of attacking while not gifting their wicket away. Those who average better, do not have an impressive strike rate and vice-versa. Hardik Pandya, India’s current finisher, who has a strike rate of 150.38, averages 19.40. MS Dhoni averaged 39.31 but his runs came at a strike rate of 125.86. The addition of Karthik in the middle order will provide the perfect balance to the T20I side.
Domestic dominance
With opportunities not available in the international circuit, Karthik has displayed his batting dominance in the Indian domestic cricket. Playing for his native state of Tamil Nadu, the wicketkeeper-batsman boasts of a dazzling record. Here’s his record in the last three Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy seasons that he has played in.
After a modest outing in the IPL 2020, Karthik has shone brightly in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy being played on the Indian soil. Under Karthik’s leadership, Tamil Nadu have won all seven of their matches and now march into their third SMA Trophy final. Incidentally, he is also the captain who led Tamil Nadu to the championship in the inaugural season of 2006-07. Karthik is currently the second-most successful captain in the tournament’s history with a win percentage of 87% in 31 matches.
In the three batting opportunities that Karthik had in the group stages, His knocks of 46 from 17 balls, 40 not out from 30 balls, 47 not out from 31 balls helped Tamil Nadu secure a strong finish. In the semi-final against Rajasthan, the captain played a crucial unbeaten knock of 26. His 89-run partnership with Arun Karthik for the 4th wicket proved to be match-winning for Tamil Nadu.
Karthik’s brilliance has not been limited only to the 20-over format. He was the highest run-getter of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2017 (50-over tournament) and produced another sensational performance in 2019 edition (418 runs, average 59.71, strike rate 121.15 in 12 matches).
In his famous knock of 29 not out from 8 balls against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final, Karthik illustrated the importance of a finisher in T20 cricket. With India’s middle-order still unsettled, this wicketkeeper-batsman is capable of stepping up and scoring the crucial runs. The selectors moved past him in the shortest format without giving him ample opportunities. With the T20 World Cup in sight, this will be a chance for them to redeem themselves.
