“Virat Kohli’s knock against Pakistan” - Dinesh Karthik on the standout innings by an Indian batter in 2022

Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has chosen Virat Kohli’s match-winning half-century in the T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 clash against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as the standout knock by an Indian in 2022. He also named Suryakumar Yadav as the best T20I player from the country this year, while picking Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer for Tests and ODIs, respectively.

India ended their cricketing journey in 2022 on a winning note, beating Bangladesh by three wickets in the second Test in Dhaka on Sunday, December 25. With a tense victory, the visitors also clinched the two-match series by a 2-0 margin.

In an interaction with Cricbuzz, Karthik reflected on India’s best performers with the willow across formats in 2022. Beginning with the outstanding batting effort of the year, he opined:

“There have been quite a few performances. The standout innings by a massive distance has to be Virat Kohli’s knock (82* off 53) against Pakistan. But, if I have to pick batsmen for each format for the year, Suryakumar Yadav again, by a country mile, is the best in India, arguably the best in the world as well (in T20Is).”

Shifting focus to Tests and ODIs, he stated:

“When it comes to Test cricket, Rishabh Pant has been phenomenal this year, consistent under pressure, doing so well. If you take the one-day format, Shreyas Iyer has done really well for team India and has made himself a household name that India can back and be with for this World Cup.”

The 37-year-old, however, candidly admitted that 2022 has been a forgettable year for Indian cricket. Karthik elaborated:

“2022 has been a very ordinary year for Indian cricket. When it comes to Test matches, we had a great opportunity in South Africa. We let go of that. We had to huff and puff in the second Test in Bangladesh.”

According to Karthik, the story in the limited-overs was also a sorry one. He explained:

“India did very well in bilaterals, but in multi-nation events, India was found abegging. That is a template that needs to change right from the top. There are teams which are zooming past us and we are stuck in old-school.”

India began the year with a 1-2 Test series loss in South Africa. Their biggest disappointment was crashing out of the T20 World Cup after losing to England by 10 wickets in the semi-finals.

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“It’s going to be an uphill task for India” - Karthik on India’s WTC final chances

India will take on Australia in February-March 2023 with the aim of trying to seal their spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

According to Karthik, though, India have a very tough task at hand. He opined:

“It’s going to be a hard one. It’s going to be an uphill task for India. To win three out of four Test matches is never easy. That would mean playing to our strengths. But we haven’t played off-spin well. So it’s a catch-22 situation for India right now. They have to find an aggressive way of tackling off-spin.”

Australia will feature in a four-match Test series in India from February 9 to March 13.