Karthik pointed out how teams have preferred wicket-keepers who could contribute with the bat.
Former cricketers MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist have played a big role in changing the dimension of wicket-keeping. Both Dhoni and Gilchrist are among the most successful wicket-keepers for their respective teams and they also used to be a huge asset with the bat.
Dinesh Karthik talked about both the legends of the game and he said that earlier captains used to prefer wicket-keeper batsman, but now things have changed. Karthik feels the team needs their wicket-keepers to contribute with the bat equally.
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“The dimension of wicketkeeping has changed a lot. In today’s world, there is hardly any wicketkeeper-batsman. Most of them are batsmen-wicketkeepers. Captains want the wicketkeepers to contribute a lot with the bat. In the earlier days, there were a lot of wicketkeeper-batsmen. That has changed drastically in the last couple of decades or so with the arrival of Adam Gilchrist and MS Dhoni, people who have contributed a lot with the bat,” Karthik said to News18.
Karthik was unfortunate to have clashed with Dhoni for the wicket-keeping role in Team India. He has mostly returned to the side as a specialist batsman with Dhoni donning the wicket-keeping gloves. But Karthik doesn't rue it and feels fortunate to have played for India.
“Everybody plays the sport trying to do their best and do whatever they can. I was no different. Sometimes it happened, sometimes it didn’t. As I said, when I look back at my journey, I am very proud of whatever I have done over a period of time.”
The 36-year-old said international cricket is never easy and expecting it not to be tough is delusional. “When you play international cricket, it is bound to be tough. If you are expecting anything else, you are in the wrong place. The key is, knowing that it is tough, to find ways to enjoy it and that is the beauty of playing at the international level.
"You are always thrown into questions and have to find answers. That’s what every player tries to do. The opening was a part of the journey and the short while that it lasted, I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
(With News18 Inputs)