'Why he couldn't do it before is a technical flaw': Karthik praises 23-year-old India star for showing major improvement

Dinesh Karthik said that the hard work the player has put off the field is now starting to reflect on his performances.

While he may have scored a whirlwind 96 off 97 balls during India's first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali, Rishabh Pant's wicketkeeping should be the “hallmark” of the match for him personally, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has said. Karthik said that the amount of hard work that Pant has put in on his wicketkeeping is now reflecting in his performances behind the stumps.

Karthik was all praise for the player's performance in the first Test.  (Getty/ANI)

Karthik highlighted the dismissal of Pathum Nissanka, in which the Sri Lanka batter got an outside edge that went to Pant off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin.

“His batting is phenomenal and we can speak a lot about that. But I think the hallmark of this Test personally for him would be how well he kept,” said Karthik on Cricbuzz.

“Pathum Nissanka's catch was brilliant. Whenever an offspinner bowls into the rough a little bit and the ball is turning in, it is a hard one to take because you never know which one is going to straighten and which one will turn. On top of that if it deviates off the bat it becomes that much harder and that is where I like Pant. His hands were at the right place,” he said.

Karthik said that the fact that Pant's hands were in the right position shows that he has now sharpened his instincts.

"When you stand close in you need to practice so much for getting your hands in the right place. It needs to be second nature to you because you don't have time. You need to have your instincts working better than people who do it in the outfield and for that you have to put in some hard work. Repetition is very important and the amount of work he has put in off the field is reflecting on his keeping.

“Why he couldn't do it before is obviously a technical flaw and he has worked on that over time. It takes a little bit of time to settle in and he looked solid in this game. I liked both the catches he took. He was low and making sure the hands were soft. There are just milliseconds between the ball coming off the bat and for it to go (into the gloves),” said Karthik.