"Specialist Kind Of Cameo Batter": Sanjay Manjrekar Gives Big Compliment To This Team India Comeback Star

With the T20 World Cup in Australia only four months away, it is time for the national teams to zero in on their core for the marquee event. After the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, the team management would be happy with the way some of the senior players have returned to form. Dinesh Karthik is one such player. The 37-year-old played really well in the finisher's role for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Then in the recently-concluded T20I series against South Africa, Karthik scored a half-century in the fourth T20I to help India level the series 2-2. Former Indian cricket team player Sanjay Manjrekar, in an exclusive interview to NDTV, said that the veteran Karthik is most likely to be picked for the 2022 T20 World Cup.

"I think there's a good chance that will happen because of him proving his worth. And that series against South Africa, especially in the last game (not the one that didn't have a result), where he was the player of the match, striking 200 was a show of his ability. So yes, he is an extremely tempting option. There'll be a few matches before the T20I World Cup so I guess he'll have to keep reminding the selectors that he's still relevant," Manjrekar said.

"But it's just amazing that this guy at this stage of his career has carved a niche for himself. I tweeted also about him where he is one of those rare players in fact one of the first players in the world in T20 Cricket who actually is a specialist kind of cameo batter down the order. He is not somebody who will bat at number three or four and generally bat at number 5, 6, 7 and he will get a few overs, 15-20 balls to make a contribution. It makes such an impact. Now when you have somebody batting at that position and just getting those many balls like Pollard does, or some somebody like Hardik Pandya, when he used to bat lower down., they are another string to the bow. So Dinesh Karthik actually commands a place in this team for his cameo batting. With Pant as keeper and Dinesh Karthik in the team only as a batter just tells you the kind of work that he's adding, which has been amazing!"

Karthik is part of the India squad that will play two T20Is in Ireland later this month.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team Dinesh Karthik Sanjay Manjrekar ICC T20 World Cup 2022