‘This is a quarter-final for India’ – Dinesh Karthik on the importance of New Zealand clash in the T20 World Cup

Veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik said the match against New Zealand on Sunday in Dubai is a virtual quarter-final for Team India. Virat Kohli and Co. didn’t make an auspicious start to their campaign in the T20 World Cup 2021. On Sunday, October 24, Pakistan thrashed them by 10 wickets after Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam put on a 150 plus stand for the opening wicket.

India are currently placed fifth in the points table in Group 2 with only Kyle Coetzer’s Scotland below them. Karthik said that if the Men in Blue get over the line against the Black Caps, they would have it relatively easy going into their remaining Super 12 games versus Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia.

“This is a quarter-final for India. They know it. If they get through tomorrow’s game, they know that they have a pretty easy, well it’s not easy because there’s Afghanistan there but you would like to think there is a good chance to move forward in this tournament with a win. I’m really excited to see how India is going to shape up against New Zealand,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.

India are a little bit too safe, says Dinesh Karthik

Karthik, who last donned the national colours in the 2019 World Cup, said that the Indian batters have been a little reserved and need to be a bit more attacking. He said that they should look for boundaries in the middle overs as well.

“I think India need to go for it a bit more with the bat. If they want to win this World Cup, they will want to go for it. They are a little bit too safe. They have wonderful talent and wonderful batters that can play an aggressive game pretty much from ball one and all the way down to the 20th over,” he stated.

Karthik also backed Shardul Thakur to play against the Kiwis in place of either Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Mohammed Shami. As per Karthik, Thakur is at the peak of his powers and has the potential to pick up wickets at any stage of a game. Ahead of the upcoming game, it’s pertinent to note that India are yet to beat New Zealand in the T20 World Cup.