Dinesh Karthik the finisher slowly builds his case

While some batters had trouble converting starts, Karthik assessed and paced his onslaught in a 19-ball 41*.

Dinesh Karthik averages 54.4 batting second as opposed to 22.61 batting first. Since January 2021 though, he has scored 31.2 runs per match with a strike rate of 152.94 batting first but 11 at a SR of 100 while chasing. Two innings in chases aren’t good enough to gauge Karthik’s temperament under the pressure of an asking rate but there is no doubting his effectiveness when India have been setting targets of late. He did it against South Africa at home with innings of 30* (21 balls) and 55 (27 balls) but not so much in the UK. In the West Indies, though, Karthik has been back to doing what he does best with his freestyle batting.

India's Dinesh Karthik (AP)

What clearly worked to Karthik’s advantage was the timing of his entry. With Jason Holder and Obed McCoy consistently taking pace off the ball, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja back in the hut and Ravichandran Ashwin at one end, India were staring at a potential loss of momentum. But this was the 16th over and Karthik is built to deliver from here, a trait heavily exploited by Royal Challengers Bangalore after a prolonged period of deliberation at Kolkata Knight Riders where Karthik often tried to bat through the innings but rarely delivered. Short bursts of Karthik work best, he realised soon. RCB and ultimately India stood to gain from that.

"I have been enjoying it (the finisher's role) a lot; it's a very interesting role," Karthik said at Friday’s post-match presentation where he was given the Player-of-the-Match award. "It's not something you can be consistent with, but on the days that you do well, you can make an impact for the team. You need the backing of the captain and the coach that I've got in abundance, so that really helps.”

Before this series began, India captain Rohit Sharma admitted to giving the batters more freedom to play freely. That approach, like Karthik mentioned, automatically takes into account failures but also lets the batters believe in their ability more than ever. On nine off seven balls, Karthik wasn’t dissuaded one bit even after India had inched to 145/6 after the 17th over. Another disciplined nine-run over from McCoy where Karthik’s leading edge almost carried and India were looking at just 12 balls to engineer a spectacular turnaround. But Karthik needed just five.

When Holder attempted a blockhole delivery in the 19th over, Karthik stayed back and hit it through its line over deep midwicket for a six. It prompted Holder to come across the stumps but Karthik got across and pummelled it over covers for a boundary. Next over, McCoy got the upper hand with a single and a dot but Karthik didn’t flinch and carted a length ball over mid-off for a six. A not so well-connected switch hit for a boundary over short fine-leg, followed by opening the bat and slicing the ball over backward point for another boundary and Karthik did exactly what his brief asks him of—finishing India’s innings on a high.

Some days Karthik gets runs, some days he doesn’t. But he is sticking to a process that isn’t all wham-bam. "What is important is assessing the wicket,” said Karthik. “On any given day in the last four-five overs when you bat, there are a lot of things you need to be aware of—the shape of the ball, the softness of the ball, the wicket, what kind of shots you can play, and then you need to decide. That comes with a little bit of practice and understanding the various aspects of batting."

That Karthik was the only batter from both sides to score at least 20 with a strike rate of over 200 underlines his growing stature as a T20 specialist. West Indies erred in not bowling spin to Karthik. But the pitch too was two-paced. By rising above everything though, Karthik once again showed India need not be worried over at least one batting position going into the T20 World Cup this year.