Team India made a strong return in T20Is after the 2022 Indian Premier League, putting out impressive performances in a 2-2 drawn series against South Africa before beating Ireland 2-0 in late June and England 2-1 earlier this month. A number of senior players made a return to the format throughout the two series – one of them being 36-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik. The veteran India star reaped rewards of his consistent performances in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore, earning an India call-up after almost three years.
Karthik produced fine performances on his India return, and has cemented his place in the T20I XI as a finisher. His comeback story has been well documented; however, India's former strength and conditioning coach Basu Shanker reveals another side of Karthik during an interview with YouTuber BeerBiceps.
Shanker spoke at length about fitness culture in the Indian team and during the conversation, shared a light-hearted story about Karthik.
“He has a lot of.. I won't say superstitions.. he calls it 'deja vus'. He is mentally very strong, but by any chance, if you tell him, 'Dinesh, you are doing great. You will score a hundred', he will probably stop saying hello to you,” Shanker revealed.
“Go tell him, 'you're batting sh*t, you are going to get out early today', and he will hug you. He likes the opposite way of approaching things. Before he go to bat, he picks one guy and he will talk to him. He has got his routines and I have made a lot of fun of him. We take a mickey out of him all the time. That's the beauty of going on the tour with him!” he further said.
{{/usCountry}}“Go tell him, 'you're batting sh*t, you are going to get out early today', and he will hug you. He likes the opposite way of approaching things. Before he go to bat, he picks one guy and he will talk to him. He has got his routines and I have made a lot of fun of him. We take a mickey out of him all the time. That's the beauty of going on the tour with him!” he further said.
{{/usCountry}}Shanker is currently the strength and conditioning coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and works closely with both, Karthik and Virat Kohli – the latter known for bringing about a fitness revolution in Indian cricket.