The India team will be on Monday in Mumbai for the upcoming World Cup; where everyone is thinking that either Dinesh Karthik or Rishabh Pant will be picked up by the national selectors. However, Kolkata Knight Riders’ coach Jacques Kallis said that he would prefer Karthik and chose him if he was the national selectors.
“I would pick DK for his experience, in the World Cup you need experience. He knows how to play situations and he can control the middle-order and bat at a good rate. Not too many dot balls and India would be silly if they didn’t pick him,” he said.
While talking about Kolkata’s batting order, he mentioned allrounder Andre Russell’s name who is currently in a formidable form. Kallis thought that Russell has ‘learnt the art of playing’.
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“Kartik has been really good. He has come up leaps and bounds in the last year. He has learnt a lot about his own game and the nice thing is that he can now play different situations a lot better. He wants to do well and is hungry to do well and that is an asset for the coach. Other guys want to emulate him,” Kallis expressed.
“It is difficult to compare eras. Obviously, Viv at his time was way ahead of the rest, but probably not as good as Andre Russell. But like I said, it is not fair to compare eras as conditions change, the way the game gets coached changes,” he said.
“However, in terms of hitting I think Andre is the best I have seen. Certainly hits the ball powerfully and got a great technique for that, and has worked hard on it. On his day he is a difficult batsman to bowl to as he can hit you no matter who you are.”
He further added, “We choose guys for a specific role and then want them to go out and perform well.” “We don’t want any egos here and that has worked pretty well for us. The guys get on well with each other and that is very important. No matter how good cricketers they are, a bigger role is how they fit in and that has worked well. Each guy knows his role.”
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While talking about the players, Kallis said that it is necessary to keep a good balance between a bat and a ball.
“Does the game of 220 or 240 help the game of cricket? I don’t think so. A game where it is 160-170 is good. You have to give the bowlers chance as well because it is a contest between bat and ball, not bat or ball. As much as you get Chennai type of wickets, I don’t think 230-240 helps either,” Kallis expressed.
