"Would Call Dinesh Karthik A Fine Finisher But...": Ex-India Captain On "Actual Finishers" In Team India
Krishnamachari Srikkanth, while lauding Karthik's recent performances, has said the "actual finishers" in the side are someone else.
Dinesh Karthik's resurgence as a dependable T20 player has been nothing short of being inspirational. With consistent performances for his IPL franchise and the Indian cricket team, the veteran player is now a front-runner to be selected for the T20 World Cup. Karthik features prominently in India's 15-member Asia Cup squad. His performance as a backup wicketkeeper and a finisher will be closely watched in the days ahead. However, former Indian cricket team captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, while lauding Karthik's recent performances, has said the "actual finishers" in the side are someone else.
"What do you mean by a finisher? In my book, the finisher is the guy who can take the batting from the 8th or 12th over and go on till the 20th over, and win the match for India. He starts from the 8th or the 6th over, but where is the good finisher? KL Rahul is a good finisher, Rohit Sharma is a good finisher. They go opening by the way," Srikkanth said on Star Sports.
"I just can't say that you bat the last 5 overs and say he's a finisher. I would like to term Dinesh Karthik, he definitely finds a place in my team too. I would call Dinesh Karthik a fine finisher but actual finishers are guys like Suryakumar Yadav. He is a brilliant finisher. You have Rishabh Pant, who is a brilliant finisher. You have Hardik Pandya, who is a brilliant finisher too. I think I would like to clarify that a finisher is a guy who takes the team from the 8th over and goes on till the 20th over."
India's squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Three players Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.
India Cricket Team
Dinesh Karthik