‘No Dhoni Now’ Ravi Shastri Backs Dinesh Karthik To Return In India’s T20 WC Squad
The experienced wicketkeeper-batter, Dinesh Karthik who was dropped by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), has been acquired by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the IPL 2022 season for 5.5 Cr. Karthik has shown to be their rescue in the previous several games, therefore the choice was correct.
The Tamil Nadu player has made such an impact on former India coach Ravi Shastri that he believes he could be considered India’s finisher for the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022. Shastri went on to say that Karthik is not just seasoned, however, he also has a wide range of strokes in his arsenal.
Surely Dinesh Karthik will be in that mix: Ravi Shastri
“With the amount of cricket being played and with the injuries that can take place, if you have a good IPL season which I feel he is right in thinking in that fashion. He has started off really hot and if he has a cracker jack of a season, surely he will be in that mix,” said Ravi Shastri.
“He has got the experience, he has got all the shots, there is no Dhoni in the side now so you are looking at a finisher as well. But you also have to see how many keepers you want — there’s Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and now there’s Karthik. And if there’s an injury there, then he comes in automatically,” he added.
In 3 appearances, the middle-order powerhouse has scored 90 runs with a strike rate of 204.5. He’d like to keep his hitting streak going in the future.
In the last three outings, Dinesh Karthik has yet to make a half-century in the ongoing season. He hit 32 runs in 14 balls against Punjab Kings -PBKS, 14 runs in 7 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders -KKR, and a quickfire 23-ball 44 run against the Rajasthan Royals.
Karthik was undefeated on all 3 occasions and was named Player of the Match versus the Rajasthan Royals (RR). On April 9, RCB will face the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
