You’ve Put In Hard Yards & It’s The Reward: Gavaskar On Dinesh Karthik’s Comeback

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who partnered Dinesh Karthik in the commentary panel during last year’s World Test Championship final, shared interesting incidents from their time in England about how the latter put in the extra effort to make it back to the national team.

“When we (him and Dinesh Karthik) went for the World Test Championship we were pretty much having lunch, breakfast, dinner together. And over there he was telling me about his ambition to come back in the India team for the T20 World Cup,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“He wasn’t in line for the one in UAE but this time around he looks very well to be part of the flight that takes to Melbourne,” he added.

The former World Cup winner revealed Karthik’s workout routine, which involved creating scenarios in the head and practising according to them.

“He was telling me how he was creating situations in his mind and practising according to them. So it was not just mindless practice, it was thoughtful practice. It was practice according to what the situation might be when he’s out there,” the former cricketer said.

Elaborating more on the same, Gavaskar added: “Because if you’re batting at 6 and 7, you’re not going to get 20 overs, not 18 overs. You’re gonna get 5-6, maybe if the wickets fall nine overs to bat but in those nine, how to go about it is what he was practising.”

Gavaskar spoke about how the wicket-keeper batter enrolled in a better facility to continue his special workout regime.

“He was also training so he left the hotel gym because it wasn’t good enough. He wanted to do some special training. He went and got himself enrolled in a club,” said the legendary cricketer.

“That tells you about the dedication and keenness to come back into the Indian team. And the way he’s playing now that’ll only make you admire. You’ve put in the hard yards and it’s the reward.”

In spite of getting limited balls to face in the recently concluded India-South Africa series, Dinesh Karthik made 92 runs in four innings’ at a strike rate of 158.62.