Dinesh Karthik says enjoying finisher's role after India win against West Indies

30.07.2022 - 11:17 timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Dinesh Karthik is enjoying the finisher's role, the 37-year-old said, after his breezy cameo helped secure his side's 68-victory against West Indies in the first Twenty20 International on Friday.

Captain Rohit Sharma smashed 64 but Karthik provided the late flourish with an unbeaten 41 off 19 balls as India posted 190-6 at Tarouba in Trinidad and Tobago.

Indian spinners then restricted West Indies to 122-8 to put the visitors 1-0 up in the five-match series. "I have been enjoying it a lot," veteran middle-order batsman Karthik said of his role after collecting the man-of-the-match award. "It is a very interesting role.

It is not something that you can be very consistent with but on some days, you can make an impact on the team. "You need the backing of the captain and coach and I have got that in abundance." There was a seven-year period from 2010 to 2017 when Karthik did not play a single T20 match for India but his recent form strengthens his case for selection for this year's T20 World Cup in Australia.

win Rohit Sharma Dinesh Karthik Australia India Trinidad And Tobago

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Ravi Shastri used to push players to achieve special things but he had very little tolerance for failure during his stint as India's head coach, said veteran wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik. The 37-year-old had played sporadically during Shastri's tenure as India coach, especially during the 2019 World Cup. The Shastri-Kohli tenure was a good one for Indian cricket but often the duo was criticised for not standing by a few players, who probably needed a bit more empathy during their lean patch.

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