IPL 2020 | Dinesh Karthik is a perfectionist and a proactive captain, reveals Sandeep Warrier
KKR speedster Sandeep Warrier has heaped praise on Dinesh Karthik's captaincy and has disclosed how the Tamil Nadu man wants nothing but perfection from the team. Karthik was appointed as Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper ahead of IPL 2018 and this will be his third season as the KKR captain.
The 13th edition of the IPL will kick start from September 19 in UAE. Cricket fans are very excited about the commencement of the league and so are the Indian players, who haven't been in action for the last few months. And, ahead of the new season, Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Sandeep Warrier has expressed how thrilled he is to resume playing competitive cricket and has also given insights into the captaincy of Dinesh Karthik.
Giving a sneak peek into the captaincy of KKR captain, the Thrissur-born pacer, who made his debut for KKR last season and featured in three matches for the team, told how involved Karthik is with the team at all the times.
"I am really happy and excited to be back in the IPL squad. DK bhai is an amazing captain. He gives a lot of freedom. He will support you on and off the field. 'Keep yourself ready for every game' - that's what he tells me every time. DK is a proactive captain and a perfectionist. He is very involved. He wants perfection in every department. Be it fielding, bowling or batting," Warrier was quoted as saying by Timesofindia.com.
One of the most important parts of the KKR set-up is Windies star Andre Rusell, and last year, too, the big-hitting all-rounder blazed through the season and won his side many games through his prowess. The Windies all-rounder had blasted 510 runs in the 2019 IPL campaign with the help of 52 sixes, and Warrier termed the Jamiacan a big superstar.
“Recently Venky sir (Venky Mysore, CEO & Managing Director of KKR) said Andre Russell is the Michael Jordan of T20 cricket. I agree with the statement. Russell is a classy all-rounder. He can change the game single-handedly. If you see some matches of the last season, he completely changed the game single-handedly. He is actually a superstar.”
The 29-year-old pacer was with Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2013 to 2015, but did not feature in a single game for the Reds. The Kerala-born pacer opened up on his experience with RCB and how big a learning curve it was for him under the guidance of Virat Kohli and Zaheer Khan.
“I bowled a lot of deliveries to Virat bhai in the nets. In 2013, I didn’t get much chance to speak with Virat bhai. But in 2014 and 2015, I did have a lot of conversations with Virat bhai. He told me about the improvement in my speed. He told me one thing ‘reading the batsman is very important’.
“It was a huge learning experience interacting with Zaheer bhai, RP Singh and Vinay Kumar at RCB. I learnt a lot from all the three seniors. The best thing I learnt from Zaheer bhai was how to approach a game and how to prepare yourself ahead of a game. He is a legend of the game,” said the speedster.