I Will Play First-Class Cricket as Long as Possible - Dinesh Karthik

Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik has had a prolific year with the bat. He helped India seal vital games and more importantly stayed unbeaten in chases. The veteran Tamil Nadu batsman said he has no plans of quitting First-Class cricket. He said its a dream to clinch the Ranji Trophy, and therefore the show will go on.

Meanwhile, last month, Ambati Rayudu announced his retirement from First-Class cricket to focus on ODIs and T20Is.

Dinesh Karthik to continue playing First-Class cricket

Karthik is well-known for his rich work-ethics. He has been disciplined throughout his career, and even though he doesn’t get to keep wickets too frequently, his performance with the bat hasn’t gone unnoticed. Also, he is very much in the scheme of things for the 2019 World Cup.

“The minute I think that people see me as a burden playing for Tamil Nadu, I will take a step back,” he told reporters ahead of the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 Elite Group ‘B’ match between Tamil Nadu and Kerala beginning Thursday.

“I will play for Tamil Nadu as long as possible only because the dream of winning that one title for me – the Ranji Trophy. Still not been able to achieve it, so I will keep trying as many years as I can play for Tamil Nadu.”

Not thinking about the 2019 World Cup – Karthik

The wicketkeeper-batsman said these are interesting times to pay cricket. Karthik further added he isn’t looking too far ahead and that thinking of the 2019 World Cup will put too much pressure on himself.

However, India will play Australia in a limited-overs series in January followed by a series against New Zealand. The elegant batter is taking things step by step.

“There is obviously the Australia series, New Zealand series … there is a lot of cricket coming up, I need to focus on that … the best I can do and take it from there,” he said.