A wicketkeeper batter who bats lower down the order and can finish things off in style. No, I don’t mean MS Dhoni, but Dinesh Karthik. The 38-year-old has been the most impressive keeper batter in the ongoing IPL 2024. Sanju Samson may have scored more runs, but the impact that Karthik has made in the death overs is exactly what the Indian cricket team requires.
Perfect fit for the finisher role
Apart from Dinesh Karthik and Jitesh Sharma, no Indian wicketkeeper plays the role of a finisher. Samson, Ishan Kishan, and KL Rahul all play in the top order, and Rishabh Pant is the only remaining keeper in the race for the T20 World Cup 2024 bats in the middle order.
Some might think age is not on Dinesh Karthik’s side, but it’s the complete opposite. The RCB batter has been playing the role of a finisher for some time now, and unlike wicketkeeping options, he has the experience and a proven track record.
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Some might be skeptical of selecting Dinesh Karthik. He last played in an T20 World Cup in 2022, scoring just 13 runs in 22 balls. His overall T20 World Cup isn’t much either. In the 8 innings he’s played, Karthik has 71 runs at 8.87 and a strike rate of 97.26. However, things are a bit different now.
The wicketkeeper has already announced his retirement after the IPL 2024 and is batting with freedom. So far, he has scored 226 at 75.33 in 7 matches. However, it’s his strike rate (205.45) that separates him from other batters. No one has a higher strike rate than him on the top 40 run-getters list.
Rohit & Kohli to help Dinesh Karthik?
With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma back in the reckoning for the T20 World Cup 2024, we might see a few changes. For starters, you could see Jaiswal miss out with the two senior pros opening the batting. Suryakumar, who generally bats at 3, could get pushed down to 4 if Kohli bats at 3.
Pandya might occupy the fifth spot, and that might mean that only one spot remains. Rinku Singh, who is also a proven finisher, could go against Dinesh Karthik for the last spot. Rinku, unlike Karthik, can’t wicketkeep, and none of those mentioned above can do it either.
Given that India needs Ravindra Jadeja as their all-rounder at 7 and four proper bowlers to follow, that sixth spot might go to Karthik with no other lower-order wicketkeeper batter options left.
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