Dinesh Karthik epitomises boldness. On Tuesday when the chips were down for his team Mumbai Indians, at one for 2 after 1.3 overs, he rose to the occasion and decimated the Delhi Daredevils’ bowling.
It was long after Manpreet Juneja left the media conference room that Karthik arrived to offer his views about his batting and his team’s first home match. He was apologetic “for being late.’’
“I like to bat at No. 3; it gives me an opportunity to play in the Power-Play. It was important that Rohit (Sharma) and I put up a big partnership. He gave me the strike whenever I required and towards the end he hit the big shots, which was a great thing for our team.’’
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Touching upon his overall approach this season, he said: “I have had a very good domestic season and the aim was to carry my form to the IPL format. Today Ponting and Tendulkar were the two big early wickets to fall. So I thought that a good partnership between me and Rohit (Sharma) would help the team.”
“When DD batted the pitch was even better, because there was a little more dew, the ball was coming onto the bat and it was easy to play strokes. When we started it was a little sticky and not easy to play shots. I was intent on playing the ball on its merit.”
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Karthik said he was quite happy to wear the Orange Cap. “It just goes to show that I am contributing to the team, but what is more important is that MI won. If we win this tournament, it would be a great thing and it’s more important than the Orange Cap and an individual effort.”
Finally Karthik talked about the breathtaking catch taken by Ponting and also his captaincy. “It was as good a catch I have seen (to send back Unmukt Chand). It’s a pleasure playing with him. I am very happy just sharing the dressing room with him and learning as much as I can.”