Karthik sharpening his T20 finishing skills for India comeback

Dinesh Karthik is currently putting in the hard yards in Mumbai under the guidance of friend and mentor Abhishek Nayar, focussed on sharpening his finishing skills in the T20 format.

Not because the IPL auctions are around the corner. His plan is simple.

The 36-year-old, who last played for India in the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal, is committed to playing the game for “another 3-4 years” and is determined to make a national comeback in the shortest format.

The motivation to play for India remains as strong as ever, says Karthik who would also want his six-month old twin boys to see him playing at the highest level a couple of years down the line.

“T20s will be the starting point for me. Obviously with a tournament like the IPL, you play against the best in the world and you get an opportunity to showcase your skills. As a middle order batter I can try and create an impact,” Karthik said. Before being dropped from the shorter formats in the aftermath of an ill-fated World Cup campaign, Karthik had done reasonably well as a finisher in T20s with the highlight being his last over heroics in the 2018 Nidahas Trophy final.

With India continuing to try out players for the middle-order in limited overs cricket, Karthik senses an opportunity.

Citing the examples of Shikhar Dhawan, who is 36, and Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik and the recently-retired Mohammad Hafeez, who both have touched 40, Karthik said age is not a criteria for selection anymore.

It is all about form, fitness and experience.

“Age is definitely not the thing that a lot of normal people look at it (for India comeback). Shikhar Dhawan was the highest run getter (in ODIs in South Africa) and we are the same age.”

He also believes that in the shortest format one tends to get better with age.

“People tend to figure out, understand their body, the amount of cricket they can play and all of those reasons, like a big example was the way you know Shoaib Malik and Hafeez were able to contribute to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.

“Experience is a very important factor in multi-nation tournaments. You could see that very evidently in the last few tournaments that have been held.”

Talking about his T20-specific training with Abhishek, Karthik said he is working on skills that make him better at the start of the innings.

“After every tournament, we sit down and reassess. After the Vijay Hazare (domestic one-day event), we sat down and figured out a couple of areas that we need to improve upon in terms of shot making.

“So I have taken a microscopic view to work on those areas,” said Karthik, who is also regularly playing domestic cricket and did well in the one-dayers for Tamil Nadu.