With yet another courageous display, the wicketkeeper may just have booked his place in the WC squad, as a specialist batsman.
CUTTACK: Dinesh Kaarthick for the World Cup? A couple of months ago, such talk would have been dismissed as preposterous and speculation. The speculation could soon turn into reality.
The 21-year-old Chennai player seems to have virtually booked his berth in the flight to the Caribbean islands. Not only did his innings of 63 win the match for India on Wednesday but the valiant effort was enough for him to make a strong case for himself in the Indian squad for the mega-event.
“He will be there, hundred percent,” said a national selectors minutes before they went into a huddle to pick the team for the 3rd and final ODI against the West Indies. Selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsakar was later effusive in his praise for the young wicket-keeper batsman.
Kaarthick’s innings on Wednesday bore a stamp of discipline, determination and courage. It was not spectacular but immensely effective. He has proved to be a batsman of infinite patience with willingness to adapt to difficult conditions. He also has that hunger to succeed. In the limited opportunities that he has got in the ODIs, Kaarthick has made the most of them.
He was one of the few positives for the side from the disastrous ODI series in South Africa where he was sent as the team’s second wicket-keeper but ended up playing as specialist batsman. He even won India their first Twenty20 match with his batting exploits in Johannesburg showing remarkable poise, resolve and spunk in a highly tense match.
At the Barabati Stadium, Kaarthick payed a typically gutsy innings. He utilised his limited reportoire of shots — square cut and glance — to the hilt, getting most of runs through square of the wicket or behind it. His pull off Daren Powell — the best West Indian bowler — was an exhibition of breathtaking audacity and confidence. It was perhaps the best shot played by an Indian on a day when the team’s batting was eminently forgettable.
The selector contended that Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to be their first choice wicket-keeper but the committee, according to him, is of the view that Kaarthick merits a place in the squad, even after the inevitable return of Yuvraj Singh.
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