Dinesh Karthik was picked ahead of Rishabh Pant in India’s World Cup campaign. However, he was not entirely successful and had to lose out on his place. He is currently plying his trade with Tamil Nadu in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy as a finisher and wants to perform a similar role for India if he finds himself back in the mix. His next focus is the World T20 and the wicket-keeper batsman believes he has enough time to remind the selectors of his worth with consistent performances in the domestic circuit.
“It’s [The T20 World Cup] a year away but if I feel I can keep performing and have a good [domestic] tournament, I’m sure I will go out there and play,” Karthik, 34, told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the Hazare knockouts. “Because, I feel it’s a key part that the Indian team is looking out as well – closing out matches and have someone who can understand those situations and do the best at that point of time.
It should be mentioned here that Karthik was used as a finisher for India in T20s and the Tamil Nadu man is convinced he can assume the role of MS Dhoni if he walks out in crunch situations in the final few overs of any match.
“And I feel I’ve done that in the short time I’d played T20s [for India]. But, post the World Cup, I didn’t play; they clubbed it [poor run at the World Cup] with the T20 part of it and removed me from the team as well. But I feel that I’m well-suited to play that role Dhoni has played for so many years now. I feel I can do something like that and I’ve been doing that for KKR and Tamil Nadu. So, if a slot opens up there, that’s something I’ll be really looking forward to. The T20 World Cup is definitely something I’d want to play.”
Karthik has been in superb form for Tamil Nadu this season as a finisher – he has scored 349 runs in six innings at an average of 87.25 and strike rate of just over 135.