Dinesh Karthik revived his international career on the back of a superb IPL 2022 where he donned the role of a finisher for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Thanks to that, he made a comeback into the Indian T20I side and eventually made the cut for the world cup as well.
Karthik has been the designated finisher for the team and at times, the Indian team management has held him back till the slog overs promoting those who otherwise bat lower down the order than him. The recent example was the first T20I against Australia in Mohali where allrounder Axar Patel batted ahead of him despite Karthik’s superior skills.
India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar doesn’t buy into this theory of pigeonholing Karthik as a pure finisher and instead wants the wicketkeeper-batter to be used as per the situation.
“If you think that he (Karthik) is a better batsman than Axar Patel, then he should come into bat even if it is the 12th or 13th over,” Gavaskar told Sports Today. “All this thing about coming in only for the last 3-4 overs is not the kind of thing that should be looked at. We should not be going by theory.”
“If you see how English cricket has changed by not going by theory, they are now playing very free cricket,” Gavaskar said.
