Dinesh Karthik is yet to be dismissed in IPL 2022. The Royal Challengers Bangalore star has scored 90 runs in three games at a whopping strike rate of 204.5 and helped his side win two games in the season so far.
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Karthik will be in action when RCB face the Mumbai Indians at the MCA Stadium, Pune on Saturday.
With Dinesh Karthik’s form making his case for a spot in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, former India coach Ravi Shastri believes the 36-year-old is the finisher the team needs. The RCB wicketkeeper has recorded scores of 32 off 1414 off 7 and 44 off 23 in the three matches.
His knock against the Rajasthan Royals helped RCB recover after they had lost wickets in quick succession.
Shastri said that even though Karthik has come up as an attractive option for the tournament in Australia, India will have to be mindful of the number of wicketkeepers they carry.
“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,” the former India coach told ESPN.cricinfo.
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RCB captain Faf du Plessis compared Karthik to the likes of MS Dhoni because of his cool in the death overs.
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,” Shastri said.
Rishabh Pant has scored 83 runs in three matches at a strike rate of 123 in IPL 2022 so far. Ishan Kishan has already slammed two fifties. Sanju Samson is also in the mix.
Karthik last played for India in July 2019.
