'Would call Karthik a fine finisher, but...' - Srikkanth explains who are 'Actual Finishers'

When it comes to finishers in Team India, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik happens to be the man who is portraying the role quite assertively of late. Also, others in the fray are all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. Karthik's good run in the role began in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) while playing for his new franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer of the side, amassing 330 in 16 innings at an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.98, including twin half-centuries and a top score of 73, while RCB finished third. However, is he an actual finisher? Legendary former Indian skipper Krishnamachari Srikkanth has explained.

Talking to Star Sports, Srikkanth said, "What do you mean by a finisher? In my book, the finisher is the guy who can take the batting from the eighth or 12th over, go on till the 20th over and win the match for India. He starts from the eighth or the 6th over, but where is the good finisher? KL Rahul is a good finisher, and Rohit Sharma is a good finisher. They go opening, by the way."

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Instead, Srikkanth backed Suryakumar Yadav and Pandya as actual finishers, as he exemplified, "I can't say that you bat the last five overs and say he's a finisher. I want to term Dinesh Karthik. He finds a place in my team too. I would call Dinesh Karthik a fine finisher, but actual finishers are guys like Suryakumar Yadav."

"He [Surya] is a brilliant finisher. You have Rishabh Pant, who is a brilliant finisher. You have Hardik Pandya, who is a brilliant finisher too. I think I would like to clarify that a finisher is a guy who takes the team from the eighth over and goes on till the 20th over," concluded Srikkanth.

• Dinesh Karthik
• Krishnamachari Srikkanth
• team india
• india
• cricket
• sports