Dinesh Karthik’s Direct Message To Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid Regarding T20 World Cup Selection

Karthik, who will turn 39 by the time the World Cup kickstarts on June 1, was also part of the last edition of the T20I World Cup in Australia in 2022, which was also his last appearance for Team India. Since then he has become an off-the-field cricket expert, involved in commentary stints. Returning to IPL this season, he has taken his batting to a new level and displayed some astonishing power-hitting to strike at a rate of 205-plus.

“At this stage in my life, it would be the greatest feeling for me to represent India. I’m very, very keen to do so. There is nothing bigger in my life other than representing India in this T20 World Cup,” the RCB wicketkeeper-batter said ahead of the clash against KKR.

With Karthik also emerging as a contender, the wicketkeeper slot will be a hotly-contested one for which the Team India think tank may pick two at the most. “I also feel there are three very, very stable, honest people who are at the helm to decide what should be the best Indian team for the World Cup — Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar. “And I’m completely with them.

I respect any decision that they take.” He said he analyzes bowlers’ patterns to strategize his shots, visualizing scenarios during practice to enhance his batting repertoire. “These days as a player, you need to understand your strengths.

I’m not a Russell or a Pollard who can just mishit a ball and get a six for it, rather,” said Karthik. The other day Karthik smashed seven sixes and five fours in his 35-ball 83 in pursuit of a record 288 but eventually RCB fell short by just 25 runs. “So, I need to understand how I can beat gaps, what sort of balls I can hit for boundaries.

And I realized there was a certain pattern in which bowlers were bowling to me, so I needed to try and work out a solution for that. “So, I worked like that, and I worked backwards, and that helped me, you know, really learn a couple of shots more, at the back end. It’s been great to go out there and express myself, and it’s been thoroughly enjoyable to do what I’m doing for RCB as a finisher,” he added.