Former Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik feels the reigning world T20 champions India are on a different stratosphere and that nobody is even close to them when it comes to competing against them in the shortest format of the game.
Karthik made this claim after the men in blue clinched an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
The victory was majorly powered by Indian openers Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma whose 133-run partnership pushed India to a 6-wicket win at the Hnry Stadium in Wellington. While Sooryavanshi got out after a rampaging knock of 45 off just 19, Abhishek played out a player of the match winning centurion knock of 113 off 38.
It prompted Dinesh Karthik to say that it was an exceptional performance from Shreyas Iyer and co and that the number 1 T20I side is showing why they are a level above rest of the teams in the world.
“What we have seen today is exceptional, to say the least. This is the No. 1-ranked team in the world, showing the rest of the cricketing nations why they are notches ahead of anybody even close to them,” Dinesh Karthik said via Cricbuzz.
The current Royal Challengers Bengaluru mentor and batting coach went as far as to say that India made it look like as if they were playing against a bunch of U-13 cricketers. He also claimed that the team has literally slapped the Kiwis across the face and sent a message that they are currently on a different stratosphere.
“We have to understand that New Zealand were the finalists in the World Cup, and India have gone to their territory and absolutely slapped them across the face and said, ‘Hello, don’t even bother competing with us, because we are from a different stratosphere altogether. This is just extraordinary shot-making. India made it look too easy, they were playing like they were playing against U-13 cricketers,” Dinesh Karthik added.
When is the fourth and fifth T20I?
Meanwhile, after claiming an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series, Shreyas Iyer’s men in blue will be looking to whitewash the Blackcaps by winning the remaining two matches on October 30 and November 1 respectively.
The Indians have previously whitewashed New Zealand on two occasions in 2019/20 and 2021/22 when they claimed 5-0 and 3-0 series wins. This will be the third time that India would do so, if it happens.