Dinesh Karthik: Team management has made it clear that I will bat No 7 | India vs Sri Lanka

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Virat Kohli-led India will lock horns with Dimuth Karunaratne’s Sri Lanka in match 44 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in a game that could potentially be one last dress rehearsal before their semi-final clash.

The Men in Blue sealed their place in the last four after a 28-run win over Bangladesh on Tuesday. And despite this, it is still all to play for as a win for Kohli and Co would seal top spot in the tournament standings if Australia lose to South Africa in the match that follows.

Karthik replaced Kedar Jadhav in the game against Bangladesh, his World Cup debut, having first got the taste of international cricket back in 2004.

Team management has made it clear that I will bat No 7: Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik on Friday said that the Indian team management has always been very clear about his batting position in the World Cup, disclosing that he was instructed to assess the situation and play accordingly at No. 7.

Karthik replaced Kedar Jadhav in the game against Bangladesh, his World Cup debut, having first got the taste of international cricket back in 2004.

Asked about his role, the senior keeper-batsman said: “I think they’ve been very clear on what my role has been. When I go in at No 7, I need to pace myself accordingly if we bat second.

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“If we are batting first, then make sure we get to the par score that’s required. They’ve made it clear that this is where I’ll be batting, and my role is to make sure, whatever the situation is, assess it and do the best that I can,” the Tamil Nadu cricketer said.

One of the designated finishers in the Indian line-up, Karthik is happy that he has finally got a chance to play at the global event after having cooled his heels in the three games in the 2007 edition in West Indies.

“I’ve been waiting to get this opportunity. So the motivation is there. The hunger is there. It’s about going there and executing. Yes, it didn’t exactly go according to plan against Bangladesh. But I’m sure that in the games to come, that I’ll try and put my best foot forward,” said the man, who has played only 92 ODIs in decade-and-a-half.

In this edition of World Cup, teams have found it difficult to chase totals in excess of 300 and Karthik attributes it largely to the conditions.

The slowness of the track in the second half has contributed a lot, he feels.

“When you are batting second, I think the wicket changes a bit, becomes slightly slower and it helps the spinners a little bit. For a lot of the teams, they’re bowling cross-seam and the wicket has been a little up-and-down as well.

“It’s not been that easy to execute shots. And also this is a World Cup, so obviously there’s a bit of scoreboard pressure, and I think a lot of teams have fallen prey to that as well,” the 34-year-old assessed.

He, however, maintained that Indian team’s strength has been to chase down totals and it still remains like that.

“No, to be honest, I think India is a team there have been good chasers for a long time and we’re very confident of chasing.

“I was asked why teams haven’t chased enough. I think the reason being they’re worried about the scoreboard pressure. But having said that, I think we as a team believe that we are good chasers, because that’s what we do day in, day out,” a confident Karthik said.

India Team Players: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), MS Dhoni(w), Mayank Agarwal, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sri Lanka Team Players: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Suranga Lakmal, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva.

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