Indian young Turks not perturbed anymore: Karthik

CUTTACK: Dinesh Karthik on Tuesday said the Indian team’s uncapped players are not “perturbed” anymore and their IPL experience will hold them in good stead in the T20I series against Sri Lanka, starting here on Wednesday.

With star skipper Virat Kohli being rested, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian squad has three uncapped players — Basil Thampi, Deepak Hooda and Washington Sundar while the likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammed Siraj are also low on experience.

“All of them have come with a lot of IPL experience behind them — some have played 20-30 games. They are not as perturbed as they used to be in earlier days. It gives them a lot of confidence to come into the International set-up,” Karthik said on the eve of their T20I series opener.

“I’m sure these are exciting times for the young boys. I’m very confident that they will make best use of the chances given to them. It’s a great opportunity for all the young boys coming in.”

The Indian wicket-keeper batsman said the ODI team has got a settled look but in the shortest format they’re trying out different options to get that perfect balance.

“We are trying to assess how each one reacts to different situations. These are great platform for a lot of young guys to come in and showcase their talents. As senior players, we just try and help these young guys as much as possible,” said the 32-year-old from Chennai.

“The Indian team has reached a stage where no matter which team we are playing, we are a very strong side and we are trying to achieve some good thing on the field every time,” he added.