The Indian middle order batsman Suryakumar Yadav joked after the third T20I against South Africa that the way Dinesh Karthik batted at no. 4, it seems that his regular no. 4 spot is in trouble now and Karthik would seal the no. 4 spot for himself.
Currently the role definition of all the batsmen in the Indian white ball team is quite clear. While Suryakumar Yadav has established himself as the no. 4 batsman in the Indian T20I line up, Dinesh Karthik has been given the role of a finisher and he usually bats at no. 7 for India.
But, yesterday when India were chasing a huge total of 228 on a small ground in Indore, Dinesh Karthik batted at no. 4 and Suryakumar was demoted a position down at no. 5. When Suryakumar, who was the man of the series for his performances in the first two games, was asked why he was demoted in the batting order, he said that the series was already won and the team management wanted Karthik to spend some time in the middle.
Dinesh Karthik usually gets to face very few balls for India in T20I games
Since Karthik is the designated finisher of the Indian T20I team, he usually gets to face very few balls. The right hander had faced 10 balls in the series against Australia and South Africa combined, before the third T20I against South Afriva in Indore. So, he was promoted up the order in the Indore T20I and the way he started, it seemed as if he was on his way to something special.
What a brilliant innings by Dinesh Karthik – 46 in just 21 balls. Missed out from a half century. A great knock by DK batting at No.4 tonight. pic.twitter.com/3goVkkTDd1
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 4, 2022
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Karthik scored 46 runs off just 20 odd balls and because of the tempo at which he batted, Suryakumar joked in the aftermath of the game that the veteran wicket-keeper batsman might make the no. 4 spot his own. India, despite Karthik’s efforts, however, fell quite a bit short of South Africa’s total, as they lost the match by 49 runs and couldn’t complete a 3-0 clean sweep in the series.
