IND vs SL 2017: Great Opportunity For All The Young Boys In The Team: Dinesh Karthik

While the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka might not be too tempting for the Indian fans because of the absence of some of the biggest names in the team but it is by no means a low-key affair for some of the players and Dinesh Karthik is well aware of that.

The absence of the likes of Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan have reduced the star-power quotient of the three-match series against the Islanders but it has given some of the new faces in the team a huge opportunity to make their mark. The likes of Basil Thampi, Deepak Hooda, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Washington Sundar have been included in the squad and Karthik is confident the newcomers an make the chance count.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for all the young boys in the team,” Karthik said ahead of the first T20I. “It’s the first time they are part of the team, I’m sure these are exciting times for the young guys, I’m very confident that they will make the best use of the chances given to them.

With more or less no room for inclusion of any new face in the settled ODI team, Karthik said the T20Is provide the youngster with a great platform to showcase their talent.

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“The ODI team is pretty set at the moment, there is a lot of stability. When it comes to T20Is, it’s a great platform for a lot of young guys to come and showcase their talent so I think the Indian team reached a stage where no matter which team [is] put up, we are a very strong side achieving some good things on the field,” he said,

The 32-year old further said the senior players including him would be ever-ready to help the youngsters who have ample knowledge of playing in T20s duo to their exposure in the Indian Premier League.

“As senior players, we will just try and help these young guys as much as possible but all these young guys have [come] in with a lot of IPL experience behind them,” he said. “Some of them have played 20 games, some of them have played 30 so they are not as perturbed as they used to be in the earlier days so it gives them a lot of confidence coming into the international cricket setup.”

Karthik also had a word of praise for his Gujarat Lions teammate Basil Thampi who made a name for himself in the IPL for his abilities to bowl yorkers at will.

“I think he is a very very good talent,” Karthik said. “He is sharp, he is quick and he is somebody who executes the yorkers very consistently and that’s probably one of his biggest strengths, so he has all the ammunition required to play the T20 format. I’m sure he is going to do really well.”

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