'Warm and fuzzy' India help bring out Karthik's A game

Certain statistics in cricket feel straight out of Ripley's Believe It or Not!, and Friday produced not one but two of those. First, England posted nearly 500 in a 50-over game in Amstelveen. Then, in Rajkot, Dinesh Karthik scored his maiden T20I half-century - more than 15 years after making his debut in the format.

When Karthik made his debut, in what was also India's first T20I outing, he was playing with a different generation of players. For instance, Graeme Smith, who was the opposition captain in that match, was one of the commentators for Friday's game. Charl Langeveldt, who picked up 2 for 20 then, is now South Africa's bowling coach.

But Karthik got to play only 34 T20Is in the intervening years, and there was a seven-year period from 2010 to 2017 when he didn't play a single T20I for India. That's because he was a second-choice wicketkeeper behind MS Dhoni during this time, and wasn't always deemed good enough to play as a pure batter.

But over the years, the format has evolved so much that there are opportunities for super-specialists. And in the last few months, Karthik has emerged as one in closing a T20 innings. He has taken his finishing skills to such a level, as he showed during IPL 2022, that India's team management had to make space for him in the playing XI.

India probably plan to use him mainly in the last five overs of the innings. Therefore, in the second T20I of this series, when they lost their fourth wicket in the 13th over, Axar Patel walked in ahead of Karthik. The move, though, didn't prove as successful, with Axar consuming 11 balls for his ten runs.

In Rajkot too India's fourth wicket fell in the 13th over. But the pitch was playing a few tricks. It was slightly on the slower side, because of which the ball was not coming onto the bat easily. Then there was uneven bounce to deal with. Anrich Nortje's first ball in the ninth over scooted underneath Hardik Pandya's bat; the fifth stung Rishabh Pant on the gloves.

Perhaps considering all that, India decided to send Karthik, and not Axar, at No. 6. Hardik told him straightway to take his time as it was much easier to score once set. He took four balls to open his account, and was on 6 off 8 at one point. But that allowed him to assess the conditions and settle down.

With five overs left in the innings, Temba Bavuma brought Nortje back into the attack. By this time, the game had entered Karthik's territory. He skipped down the track and smashed him over mid-off. Two balls later, he cut him in front of point for another four.

From the other end, he swept, drove and reverse-pulled Keshav Maharaj for three more boundaries. "He scores in very unorthodox areas, which makes him difficult to bowl to," the left-arm spinner would say later.

Dwaine Pretorius had conceded only nine off his first two overs. But now he was up against a rampaging Karthik, who stood deep inside his crease and shuffled across to hit 6, 4, 4 off the seamer in successive deliveries. With another six off Pretorius on the first ball of the 20th over, Karthik raised his half-century.

When Pant had got out, leaving India 81 for 4 in 12.5 overs, ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster predicted a total of 149. But Karthik's 27-ball 55 lifted them to 169 for 6, which turned out to be almost double of what South Africa could manage.

Since the start of IPL 2022, on more than one occasion Karthik has spoken about how he has worked hard with his coach behind the scenes. All that work, he says, has allowed him to assess situations better and play accordingly. But after Friday's game, he also talked about how the atmosphere in India's dressing room has been of great help.

"I am feeling very secure in this set-up," he said at the post-match presentation. "In the last game, things didn't go exactly according to the plan for me [Karthik was out for 6 off 8], but the way I felt in the dressing room post the game was very comforting. Right now, the dressing room is a very safe, secure place. It feels warm, it feels fuzzy when things go well, and it feels the same when they don't go as well. There is a certain sense of calmness.

"Rahul [Dravid, India's coach] bhai has been very clear about how we should approach the series. I don't think he has been saying we should beat South Africa. What he has been saying is what he expects batters and bowlers to do. I think that clarity is very, very important."

After his IPL exploits, Karthik forced his way into the Indian side. Now, he is strengthening his case for inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad as well.