New Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Dinesh Karthik is ready to lead the side in IPL 2018 and expecting to at least qualify for the playoffs in this IPL season. He also praised the achievements of former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir.
Under Gambhir’s captaincy, KKR won the IPL trophy twice (2012 and 2014). However, Gambhir decided to play for Delhi Daredevils in this season, and that’s why KKR didn’t retain him for this season. After Karthik was bought by KKR in the 2018 IPL Auction for INR 7.4 crore, he was recently awarded for the leadership role of the team.
As a leader, Karthik has 6 IPL matches experiences for Delhi Daredevils where his team won twice and lost four other times.
Speaking of the Gambhir’s contribution for KKR, Karthik said, “What Gautam Gambhir has achieved for KKR is phenomenal. He’s left a benchmark,”
Talking about his role as a captain of the team and his expectation from the team, Karthik said, “Being a leader of the team, the management will expect from me the same. I’m aware of the expectations. Yes, there would be pressure. As a captain, you’re expected to at least go to the playoffs, that’s the least anybody can expect. I think I’m at a stage where I can handle it and get the best out of the team.”
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Karthik was the hero during the recently concluded T20I tri-series (Nidahas Trophy) final, where he secured a thrilling victory for India against Bangladesh by hitting a six on the final ball. He played a match-winning unbeaten 29 runs knock off just 8 balls.
Talking about that moment, Karthik said, “It’s been close to 10 days now since that innings, things have moved on, people have moved on. We have a new bunch of boys. It was a great game as I’ve said. When we play Bangladesh, it’s a different kind of pressure. If you win, you are like ‘okay you’ve won’, but if you lose it’s like ‘wake up, what you doing’ types.
Later, Karthik also said that it was a great feeling for him. He quoted, “We had a good start, it dipped in the middle. I just had to hit boundaries when I got in. I was lucky on that day. We had a good season, and for us not win that game would not have been nice to end the series. It was a great feeling.”
Though he took the middle-order responsibility during the Nidahas Trophy final, Karthik has given hint to promote his batting order during this IPL.
He said, “Obviously I will bat at different position than what I did in the Indian game. IPL is about dealing with tricky situation, handling pressure. It’s just a week to go and I don’t think I will treat myself any differently. Everybody is here to do their best and I’m no different. Everybody has a role to play.”
Dinesh Karthik’s wife Dipika Pallikal Karthik is now busy to begin her journey in the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast 2018). The Indian squash player had won the gold medal during the previous 2014 Glasgow CWG in the women’s doubles category of squash. She won that medal along with her doubles partner Joshna Chinappa.
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Dinesh praised her for the determination as he said that she is totally focused on the upcoming matches.
Dinesh said, “One thing I’ve learnt from her is a lot of determination. She’s worked really hard especially for the CWG. Four years back she won gold in Glasgow. As a player, the most important thing is to be able to repeat it and be consistent. She’ worked really hard in the last four years to get a gold again. She’s already in Gold coast. It’s very important two weeks in her life.”
