Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has probably gone off the selectors’ radar and last played for India in the ICC World cup 2019 but he is not giving up on his plans to play for the country again. He is focusing on maintaining a high level of fitness and stretch his playing career for at least three to four years and eyeing the two ICC T20 World Cups scheduled for this and the next year as his comeback stage.
"I will continue playing as long as I am fit. I can see myself playing for another three-four years. Touchwood, if my fitness is as it is and if I continue to contribute with the bat, I see no reason as to why I shouldn’t be playing. My aim is to play for the country in the T20 World Cups. What they want to see is not the age but how fit you are. If you can get through the fitness tests, it means you are ready to play for the country," Karthik said to News18.
Karthik said that he has had ‘phenomenal’ outings with the Indian team in the shortest format and that his exclusion from all the squads was more due to the failure in ODIs than in T20Is.
"There are back-to-back T20 World Cups, this year and the next year, and I am doing everything I can to be a part of that. I know I have done really well in the past and even when I got dropped from the team after the World Cup, I thought I had done phenomenally well for India in T20s up till then, but because the World Cup did not go well, I got chucked out of the T20 as well," Karthik added.
Pointing out the role he wants to earn in the Indian side for the World Cups, Karthik said that he is eyeing the role of a ‘pure middle-order’ batsman who would be able to finish the innings for the side in big tournaments—a role he said he has done successfully over a period of time.
"But given an opportunity, especially in the middle order, I know India definitely needs a finisher there. I know we have Hardik (Pandya) and (Ravindra) Jadeja there. That’s something that I have kept my focus on, to be a pure middle-order batsman. I feel that is a specialised slot, the ability to win games and set up good totals to help the team win. That’s something that I have focussed on and I have done well over a period of time and am backing myself to do it over and over again,” Karthik added.
Dinesh Karthik plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders and he would be eager to shine for them in the second part of the IPL 2021 scheduled to be played in the UAE before the World cup to stake a claim in the Indian T20 side.