Dinesh Karthik believes IPL has made uncapped Indian players more confident
Dinesh Karthik has claimed that the IPL has provided a platform for young Indian players which has in turn given them the confidence to perform in international cricket. Karthik has also added that Indian team's confidence is at an all-time high and they don't care about the opposition anymore.
The Sri Lankan cricket team visited India to play a full series which included three Tests, three ODIs and the same number of T20I. BCCI picked some uncapped players for the shortest version of the game including Basil Thampi, Deepak Hooda, and Washington Sundar. In the absence of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma led the team in the ODI series where they registered a 2-1 win. The cricket caravan now moves to Cuttack for the T20 series with the first one being played on December 20.
Sundar, who had an impressive IPL earlier this year, continued his exceptional form in domestic cricket which seemed to have impressed the selectors as he also played his maiden ODI in Mohali against Sri Lanka. Thampi who was brilliant in the IPL for Gujarat Lions as well as
"All of them have come with a lot of IPL experience behind them - some have played 20-30 games. They are not as perturbed as they used to be in earlier days. It gives them a lot of confidence to come into the International set-up," Karthik said on the eve of their T20I series opener as quoted by PTI.
"I'm sure these are exciting times for the young boys. I'm very confident that they will make the best use of the chances given to them. It's a great opportunity for all the young boys coming in."
Before winning the ODI series, India won the three-Test match series by 1-0 thanks to their convincing innings victory in Nagpur. After a coming from a match down in the ODI series, Team India won the ODI series in some style as well and the confidence has now rubbed off on the management as well as they now appear to be comfortable in trying out
"We are trying to assess how each one reacts to different situations. These are a great platform for a lot of young guys to come in and showcase their talents. As senior players, we just try and help these young guys as much as possible," said the 32-year-old from Chennai.
"The Indian team has reached a stage where no matter which team we are playing, we are a very strong side and we are trying to achieve some good thing on the field every time."
Karthik has played 10 T20I matches in which he has scored 148 runs in nine innings. The 32-year-old has played just once in the No.4 position but he believes that in the upcoming series, he will be stick to the same number despite the presence of Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer.
"Depending on the situations and number of overs, I might go up and down a little bit but I'm seeing myself starting at number four for sure," he said.
The first T20I of the series will be played at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, where India had hosted South Africa in 2015. The game had ended with India being dismissed for a mere 92 runs and the visitors winning the game by 6 wickets with 17 balls to spare. The match had ended in bad taste as the crowd threw bottles on the ground to show their disapproval about the performance. But Karthik, who made his highest individual 79-run knock in 2010 against West Indies at the same venue, claimed that the fans would definitely enjoy the first game in the "beautiful stadium".
"This a beautiful stadium to play and you generally get a packed atmosphere. It's a great venue to play cricket and we are looking forward to it. We are the home team. When you play in India you have a lot of advantage," he concluded.
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