Dinesh Karthik attributes success as end-overs powerhitter to 'scenario practice'
Dinesh Karthik closed out the proceedings for the second T20I against Australia with a six and a four off Daniel Sams.
Scenario practice, wherein he sets himself up to achieve a specific target with minimum balls at hand in the nets, has been key to Dinesh Karthik's resurgence as an end-overs powerhitter for India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL.
Karthik, who smashed Australian seamer Daniel Sams for 10* off 2 balls to close out the proceedings in Nagpur for the second T20I on Friday (September 23), told the press he has been doing a lot of scenario practice to dominate bowlers at the death.
The experienced wicketkeeper-batter has been fantastic in this role since the beginning of the IPL 2022, where he announced his ambition to make an India comeback for the T20 World Cup and went on to hit 330 runs at a strike-rate of 183.33, averaging 55 for RCB.
Speaking to the media after the Indian win, Dinesh Kartik said he attributes his success to specific drills while batting in the nets. Replicating match scenarios at practice, Karthik said, has been of real help when he enters the middle and has to straightaway find the big hits.
'Scenario practice' key to Dinesh Karthik's success
Karthik also revealed that head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour in the Indian team set-up have been very accommodating to how he needs to practice in the nets in preparation for each T20I game he plays. The Dravid-Rathour duo, he said, has only enabled his success with scenario practice.
"Look, I have been practicing over a period of time for this, and I have been doing it for RCB and I am happy doing it here. It is a consistent routine over a period of time. When I get off time, I get a lot of scenario practice," Dinesh Karthik said.
"Vikram Rathour and Rahul Dravid have also been accommodating of how I want to practice, and what shots I want to practice. I have been very specific about it, I don't practice too much, I just keep it as specific as possible," he added.
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Karthik also answered a query on why India have tended to use Axar Patel ahead of him in the batting unit. The think-tank sent Patel at No.6 ahead of Karthik in the first T20I in Mohali, which led to debates and criticism, with many feeling it denied the more organised batter balls to get himself in before exploding.
But Karthik put forth the communication with the Dravid-led management, stating the idea remains to provide him an ideal entry point in the end-overs and maximise Patel's batting abilities versus spin. The veteran player has a 16-20 overs strike-rate of 184.09 in T20Is for India.
"I understand this question. It is something we are trying. There are times they (management) feel that there could be a couple of overs where Axar Patel could target the spinner and take them on."
"That was the kind of logic at that stage and having a left-hander when a leg-spinner is bowling, it is a good match-up. We try and use that option sometimes, depending on how the game is unraveling at that point in time," he explained.