Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik after winning the Syed Mushtaq Ali 2021 has said that Tamil Nadu is doing a good job as they produce cricketers who play for India. The Tamil Nadu captain who is still hoping to return to international cricket for India has led his stateside to their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after a long gap of 14 years. Interestingly, Karthik was the captain during Tamil Nadu’s first trophy win in 2007 as a 22-year-old.
Dinesh Karthik’s team lost the final to Karnataka last year by one run and a performance like this would have reduced the burden of 2020’s loss in the final. Tamil Nadu has improved their brand of cricket, and it has been widely seen in the results with a lot of youngsters from the state going on to play for India as well as gaining big bucks in the IPL. They have stamped their authority in the tournament and purely dominated from the first match.
Dinesh Karthik Willing To Take The Team Forward
Senior statesmen Dinesh Karthik has expressed his will to take the team forward and develop talent. He also told that last year’s loss had hurted them a lot and he also made his ambitions clear that he still wants to play for the Indian cricket team.
Dinesh Karthik has been in and out of the Indian side, after being part of the 2019 World cup squad and a good run of form in the upcoming Vijay Hazare trophy could earn him a spot back in Indian colours.
“You understand your cricket over a period of time, I am very keen on taking our state cricket forward and playing for the country is always on my mind,” he said after the match.
“It really hurt us last year. We played really good cricket and we have been pretty consistent throughout,” he added.
Karthik Praises The Youngsters Doing Well
Dinesh Karthik mentioned the two Indian upcoming stars Washinton Sundar and T Natrajan who were playing for Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament last year have grown in heaps and bounds to produce match-winning performances for India. He added that there would be more players from the state to play for the country and praised the youngsters who played well in the tournament.
“Just the fact that there are players like Natarajan and Washington Sundar in the Indian team… those guys were around last year playing this tournament for us. Just to see those guys go there… I am sure there’ll be few more going from here,” Dinesh Karthik told.
“There have been so many good performances through the season. We are able to produce cricketers to play for the country, that’s always a sign of a team doing well,” he added.
Karthik has played 26 Tests, 94 ODIs and 32 T20is for India while making his debut in 2004 as an 18-year-old.
