Dinesh Karthik credits long chats with Ravi Shastri for his improved batting

11/13/2017

Dinesh Karthik has acknowledged his good communication with India coach Ravi Shastri, who highlighted the areas he can improve upon, as one of the main reasons for his improved batting. The 32-year-old also believes that any player with little effort can get the current Yo-Yo Test benchmark score.

Dinesh Karthik has had a productive return to the Indian squad in the ODI series against New Zealand, where the stylish right-hander scored a good 37 coming in at number five in the first ODI while his unbeaten 64 runs at number four helped India level the series in Pune. At 32, the batsman has given India a consistent option in their constantly evading number four role and although his future still hangs in balance, Karthik says his long chats with Ravi Shastri concerning his batting has been helpful and he would like to improve along those lines.

“In terms of feelers (for the future) from the team management, nothing has been communicated. But regarding my batting, I did have a long chat with Ravi bhai (Shastri). He was happy with my batting against New Zealand but he said there are still areas where I can improve upon, especially maintaining the tempo of the innings since he feels I have all the shots. I agree with him and that is what I would look to do," Karthik told PTI.

Karthik has had a topsy-turvy national career so far where he has been recalled innumerable times. He got a call in the 11 hour for India’s Champions Trophy part following Manish Pandey’s injury but didn’t get a single game. His decent unbeaten scores of 50 and 48 in West Indies went unnoticed soon after as Pandey replaced him in Sri Lanka series. However, the player returned to the national team yet again after following two centuries in the Duleep Trophy. And the player credits his close association with Mumbai stalwart Abhishek Nayar as the reason for this.

"I would not be where I am without Abhishek Nayar. Working with him is an ongoing process. We discuss a lot about the game, mostly on the phone since we are both busy playing. For example, before the New Zealand series he advised me to show intent from ball one, be very aggressive,” said Karthik.

Though the Yo-Yo Test has emerged as a really tough hurdle for some senior players to overcome of late, Karthik thinks it is very much gettable. “The current benchmark is pretty achievable," he said, "Anybody who puts in a bit of effort can reach that mark… It only starts getting tougher from 17.5 onwards. There has been a lot of hues and cry about it but it is pretty achievable for most sportsmen."

Dinesh Karthik credits long chats with Ravi Shastri for his improved batting

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