Has Dinesh Karthik Booked His Ticket To Australia?

Dinesh Karthik has a strong case to get into the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup.

Dinesh Karthik is in prolific form, not that he wasn't earlier, but the IPL 2022 has once again freshened up our minds watching what the 36-year-old still offers in a T20 team. 

Dinesh Karthik has been in and out of the Indian side for a long time. He last played an international match on 10th July 2019 - the World Cup semi-final vs New Zealand. His last T20I was in February 2019. 

With the retirement of MS Dhoni in 2020, the Indian team has been experimenting with a lot of players who can play the finisher role as good as he did. 

The Indian team is currently in an experimentation stage ahead of the T20 World Cup later in 2022 in Australia. The new management led by Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma is trying to find a finisher in the T20 squad. 

There are several players in the fray including Venkatesh Iyer, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja, trying to give India the push in the slog overs. All three have done decently well but India would want someone they can trust. 

Dinesh Karthik was the hero of the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team that won the Nidahas trophy in 2018. He smacked 29 runs in nine balls to help India win the tri-nation series. 

India took Karthik to the World Cup due to his solid batting technique and ability to switch gears. The return wasn't what Indian management expected and with several other players, DK lost his place in the limited-overs squad. 

Karthik continued to do decently well in the IPL and Indian domestic circuit. From IPL 2019-2021, Karthik scored 645 runs in 477 balls at a strike rate of over 135. KKR mainly used him as an experienced batter playing in the middle overs and then finishing the innings - the exact role with Indian team thought of giving him. 

However, in IPL 2022, RCB gave Karthik a particular role that he will be doing through the season - the finisher. RCB decided that Karthik should only come in the backend of the innings where his role will be to play less spin, more pace, and finish the inning. 

Karthik since 2019 in T20s: vs pace - 655 runs, 438 BF, 149.54 SR, 29.77 Avg; vs spin - 282 runs, 214 BF, 131.77 SR, 20.14 Avg 

Karthik is a terrific hitter of pace and can work around spin according to the situation. Giving him a specific role is the best thing RCB could have done for him. RCB has tried to make sure they keep delaying Karthik's entry point and give him a specific scenario to play. 

In IPL 2022, Karthik has so far played 60 balls and scored 131 runs. He has gotten out only once. DK's strike rate is over 218. 

Karthik in IPL 2022: vs spin - 35 runs, 18 BF, 194.44 SR; vs pace - 96 runs, 42 BF, 228.57 SR

He has perfectly got himself into the character of an ideal finisher who doesn't take any time to settle down and just smacks the incoming ball. Karthik's first 10-ball strike rate is 256.41 - the best in IPL 2022 so far. In five innings, Karthik has scored 100 runs in his first ten balls. Next in line is Liam Livingstone with 79 runs in four innings. 

Coming back to India's Squad for The T20 World Cup, India requires exactly this kind of a player who can successfully take down bowling attacks in the slog overs. In Australian conditions, a batter will be required to have range vs pace. The speed, bounce, and big grounds of Australia will need batters hit pace with ease and Karthik does exactly that. 

There is tough competition in the Indian squad for the lower middle order vacancy and Dinesh Karthik has a very strong portfolio for that role. Will the management go for the experienced in-form batter or get a new guy to do the job?