India batsman Dinesh Karthik on Saturday (August 7) said Orange Cap is one of the silliest awards to give away in the Indian Premier League (IPL), citing that finishers and impact players influence T20 results a lot more than top-order batters.
In IPL, the top run-getter holds the 'Orange Cap' while the highest wicket-taker gets the 'Purple Cap'.
"I think the Orange Cap is one of the silliest awards to give away in the IPL. They (the organizers) could think of it in a much better way. Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell would never win the Orange Cap because they would not get the runs a Rohit Sharma or a Quinton de Kock or any other opener gets.
"What they would do though is influence a lot more matches with their batting than the openers during the course of a season. We are still in that number of runs and those kind of things. But (in T20Is) it comes down to that impact things," Karthik told Aakash Chopra on the latter’s Youtube channel.
Dinesh Karthik is part of the Sky Sports commentary panel for the ongoing England-India Test series. While the wicketkeeper-batsman has expressed keenness to play the next two T20 World Cups, he won’t regret if an opportunity doesn’t come his way.
Karthik was never a power-hitter to start with but he has reinvented himself as one in the last few years. In 2018, the right-hander had played a remarkable cameo of 8-ball 29* to take India over the line against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final, smashing the last delivery for a six.
Asked how difficult it was for him to adapt to a new role, Karthik explained: "Between overs 18 and 20, the highest strike rate in the last four years in the IPL, I think No. 1 is me and then comes everyone else. The difference between them and me is they are power hitters while I am a touch player. I can’t hit a 100-metre six but I can definitely hit a 60-metre six.
"And what I can do better than them is the reverse scoops or try and get under the bowlers' nerves by playing with their fields. I can definitely step out and hit a first-ball six. So I have to find ways to hit those boundaries in the right way. My focus in T20 cricket is to get a boundary off the first 3-4 balls."
Dinesh Karthik will now be seen in action in the second phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, slated to be held in UAE from September 19 to October 15. He will turn up for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the cash-rich tournament.
