Dinesh Karthik was hailed as an enforcer by India head coach Rahul Dravid after his century in Rajkot helped the side tie the five-match T20I series against South Africa.
Karthik, 37, was recalled to the Indian team for the T20I series against South Africa. After the top-order disintegrated, his 27-ball 55 in the fourth match enabled India to achieve a respectable total. Karthik also made history by becoming the oldest Indian hitter to score fifty runs in the shortest format.
He was chosen for a specific skill—something he had excelled in in the previous 2-3 years. It’s great that his decision has been confirmed. “During the post-match press conference, Dravid stated.
“It all came together well in Rajkot, where we required a great last five overs effort to get back to level.” Karthik and Hardik (Pandya) batted superbly for us. In the end, both Karthik and Pandya were our enforcers. They are as good as anyone in the world when it comes to capitalising in the last 5-6 overs.
It’s great to see Karthik succeeding. It gives us more alternatives in the future. I was advising the boys that they needed to slam the doors open rather than simply knocking. “With an innings like that (at Rajkot), Karthik is undoubtedly thumping hard.”
Karthik, who last played a T20I in February 2019, was recalled to the India squad for the five T20Is following a great IPL 2022 season with Royal Challengers Bangalore, in which he scored 330 runs in 16 innings.
The series between India and South Africa ended in a 2-2 draw after the fifth and final T20I in Bengaluru was cancelled due to rain.