Indian star batter Dinesh Karthik is in the form of his life since the Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded earlier this year, and has carried his form to the ongoing T20I series against West Indies.

Karthik, 37, played a 41-run knock off 19 balls in the first T20I, with a strike rate of 215.79 against the Indies on July 29. His performance did not go unnoticed, as the fans’ demands to include him in the T20 World Cup squad have only increased since then. His performance in the first T20I against West Indies also helped India to mount a huge 190-run target against West Indies, effectively helping them to clinch a victory.

Also Read: Collapso cricket: India brushes aside West Indies by 68 runs

However, Karthik feels that many things combine to make him the finisher that he is currently.

“When you are back in the middle order, especially at the back end of the game, you need to be very quick on your feet in terms of assessing the conditions, assessing the ball. What are the kinds of shots that you can play,” he told Ravichandran Ashwin on BCCI TV.

Karthik pointed out that when Ashwin came in against West Indies, Ravindra Jadeja had just gone back in, which resulted in a critical part of the match for the Indians. However, he also said that their (Karthik and Ashwin) effective partnership, helped India to reach the 190-run threshold on July 29.

“As you’ve seen when you (Ashwin) came in, Jadeja had just got out. That was a very critical phase of the game,” Karthik said while explaining it could have become the difference between a 165-run target and 190 runs.

Also Read: CWG 2022: Reason behind the absence of BCCI logo from Indian team kit

“We stitched together a very clever partnership, running hard in between and then at the back end exploding and making sure we hit those boundaries,” he added.

Karthik also said that he feels he and Ashwin absorbed the pressure in the final overs well. He went on to add that the aim is to feature in the forthcoming T20 World Cup for India, saying, “I’m sure both of us have a small role to play in that in time.”