NSW approach Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik

Indian batsmen Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik have been approached by New South Wales after the latter lost out on Kieron Pollard to South Australia for the Twenty20 Big Bash later this season. New South Wales coach Matthew Mott said he'd been impressed Rohit's and Karthik's IPL performances for Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils.

Mott added that they spoke to Adam Gilchrist (Deccan's captain) and the Delhi camp to get feedback on the players.

"I've known Rohit since his Under-19 days," Mott told Cricinfo. "I was involved with the Australia U-19 team that played a few games with the Indian team then. In my eyes, he is a world-class player. I spoke to Gilchrist who had nothing but good words for Rohit and forwarded my interest to Rohit through Gilly."

Mott, who was the assistant coach with Kolkata Knight Riders, said that the NSW chief executive Dave Gilbert spoke to Karthik after getting good feedback from his sources in the Delhi team. NSW have a verbal agreement with Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara but feel he might not be available given Sri Lanka's scheduled tri-nations series against Bangladesh and India coinciding with the Twenty20 tournament.

Karthik said he was excited about the opportunity of play for NSW but stressed that his availability would depend on any existing Indian domestic cricket or international commitments. "I am delighted as it presents a good opportunity to sharpen my skills under different conditions." The quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy, India's premier domestic tournament, end on December 27, a day before the start of the Twenty20 Big Bash in Australia (NSW's first game is on December 30). However, the dates of the two tournaments overlap from then on till the final of each.

The BCCI's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said: "As long as an Indian domestic tournament is going on, no player will be allowed to play in another domestic tournament."

Apart from bureaucratic glitches, there is also the issue of Indian players playing in Australian conditions. Mott, though, said the top players shouldn't have any problem in adapting. "If you are a top player, you can adapt to all conditions. It will be great for their development as well. Also, the wicket at home (Sydney) here is pretty similar to Indian conditions. It will be slightly slow and have some turn. I see it as a win-win situation for us and them."

Mott said that Gilbert had spoken directly with Karthik, while they had approached Rohit through Gilchrist. "We will be stepping up our negotiations with both of them so that we settle our team as soon as possible."