Nagpur, Sep 24: Specific practice and not ‘too much of it’ helps Dinesh Karthik come up with the big hits in extreme pressure situations.
One such case was on Friday night when he smashed a six and four to seal the game for India after nine runs were needed off the last six balls.
Asked about his process, the designated finisher in the team said creating scenarios in the nets helps him perform in the middle.
“Over a period of time, I’ve been practising for this, I’ve been doing it for RCB now and I’m happy doing it here. So it’s a consistent routine for a period of time.
“I do a lot of scenario practices and also Rahul (Dravid) bhai and Vikram (Rathour) bhai has been accommodating of how I want to practice, what are the kinds of shots I want to practice.
“I have been very specific with it. I don’t practice too much but I like to keep it as specific as possible,” said Karthik after India levelled the series against Australia.
In the first game, Karthik came to bat after Axar Patel while on Friday he was sent ahead of the left-arm spinner.
“I think it’s something that we are trying, there are times when there could be a couple of overs where an Axar Patel could target a spinner and take them on.
“So that is the kind of logic at that stage and having a left hander and leg spinner bowling is a good matchup. So we try and use that option sometimes.
“So that’s one of the reasons why we try and do it depending on how the game is unravelling at that point of time,” said the 37-year-old.
Karthik played ahead of Rishabh Pant in the opener but a truncated game allowed the management to accommodate both in the playing eleven for the second T20.(PTI)
