Dinesh Karthik knows a thing or two about winning. After a fairytale turnaround in the latter stages of his career, where he reinvented himself from a traditional keeper-batter into one of the world’s deadliest T20 finishers, he has only sharpened his cricketing brain. Most recently, he proved his tactical genius by guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their historic maiden IPL title in 2025 as their batting coach and mentor. When a man who has mastered the art of finishing games speaks about the "endgame," you listen.
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Ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup, Team India looks unstoppable on paper, having won 29 of their last 36 matches. But Dinesh Karthik has spotted a dangerous crack in the armour. While the batting is explosive and the spin department is elite, he argues that the team is leaving itself vulnerable at the very end of the innings.
Dinesh Karthik didn’t mince words about the specific tactical gamble India is taking. "Death bowling is a concern. I think it's a challenge because of the way they stack up their eleven. When they've played in the subcontinent, they've gone with Bumrah, Hardik as the second pacer, and Shivam Dube as the third, while backing their spinners heavily. At times, when the game goes deep, especially when they're defending a total, the back end can become a challenge," he warned.
The context is critical. India is relying heavily on Jasprit Bumrah to bail them out. But if the opposition targets the support seamers like Hardik Pandya or Shivam Dube in those high-pressure final overs, the defending champions could crumble. Coming from Dinesh Karthik, a man who spent his final playing years exploiting exactly these kinds of bowling weaknesses, this is a warning Team India cannot afford to ignore.
