09 April,2014 08:33 AM IST | | PTI
Dinesh Karthik grabbed eyeballs when Delhi bought him for an astounding Rs 12.5 crore at the last IPL auctions; stumper hopes the tag will not put undue pressure on him
DD's Dinesh Karthik
New Delhi: Dinesh Karthik grabbed eyeballs when Delhi Daredevils bought him for an astounding Rs 12.5 crore at the last IPL auctions and the Tamil Nadu stumper knows only too well that the franchise has pinned a lot of hopes on his ability to win matches.
DD's Dinesh Karthik
"Of course, there will be pressure. When a corporate invests in you, they have high expectations. But money is not the only issue here. As a professional, you are expected to give your best for the team irrespective of you getting more money or less," Karthik told PTI in an interview.
A good showing in the last IPL paved the way for Karthik's return to the Indian team for the Champions Trophy. Is he planning something similar this time around? "IPL for me is just about expressing myself. If I do well, the future will take care of itself," he said.
Missed opportunities
Karthik failed to make most of the opportunity in the Asia Cup which preceded the World Twenty20. Called in as replacement for India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the wicketkeeper-batsman missed some crucial stumpings and could not come up with a noticeable performance with the bat. But on his own admission, there are no specific areas that he has worked on.
"To be honest, I have not worked on anything specific. It would also be tough to gauge my form with the way I played in the domestic T20s (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy) as IPL will be a different ball game," said the 28-year-old.
The all new Daredevils squad starts training today. Karthik said it was too early to talk about how the team would fare in the seventh edition. Captain Kevin Pietersen, Ross Taylor, Quinton de Kock, Murali Vijay and Mohammed Shami are the other star players in the squad.
