IND vs WI 2022: “Wish I had done that a little earlier” - Dinesh Karthik laments not focusing enough on key aspect of his game

Team India’s finisher Dinesh Karthik has admitted that he did not work hard enough on his power-hitting earlier in his cricketing career, something he wishes he had done.

The 37-year-old has reinvented his batting brilliantly over the last few months and looks set to feature in the Team India squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia. The Tamil Nadu batter was adjudged the 'Player of the Match' in the first T20I against the West Indies in Trinidad, smashing an unbeaten 41 off 19 in India’s 68-run triumph.

In a media interaction ahead of the fourth T20I in Lauderhill on Saturday (August 6), Karthik was asked about one facet of his game he wished he had worked on earlier. He replied:

“Power hitting. That is something I have worked on a lot. I wish I had done that a little earlier in my career. But, for the moment, it’s going good.”

The veteran batter admitted that the backing of the current leadership group and the support staff has aided his second coming in a big way. He elaborated:

“Extremely happy (with the backing). This is what I have aimed for all my life. And for the captain and coach to show so much belief in me, it is only fair that I repay the faith back by giving good performances, which will help the team, in many ways, cross the line.”

While he had a poor T20I series in England, Karthik smashed his career-best T20I score of 55 (in 27 balls) during a match against South Africa in Rajkot in June.

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“Players are given the opportunity to fail” - Dinesh Karthik praises positive team environment

The keeper-batter, who has had a stop-start international career, has often spoken about how the current environment in the Team India camp is very different to the previous sides he played in. Praising the current setup again, he asserted:

“Players are given the opportunity to fail. It’s very important to give players the opportunity to fail and then move on to the next player. In India right now, there are so many players. But here you get value for what you have achieved over a period of time. That is something that needs to be respected with this coaching staff.”

Having made his debut during India’s first T20I in 2006, Karthik has so far represented the country in 45 matches in the format, scoring 573 runs at a strike rate of 141.83.