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 in Cuttack 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 the 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. This is a 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.
Karthik said he would stick to his number 4 slot unless the situation demands otherwise.
"Depending on the situations and number of overs, I might go up and down a little bit but I'm seeing myself starting at number four for sure," he said.
This will be a second T20I at this venue after India's first outing turned out to be a disaster having folded for 92 against South Africa in 2015.
The abject batting surrender frustrated the crowd who resorted to pelting water bottles on the ground.
But Karthik was all praise for the stadium.
"This a beautiful stadium to play and you generally get a packed atmosphere. It's a great venue to play cricket and we are looking forward to it.
"We are the home team. When you play in India you have a lot of advantage.
(With PTI Inputs)
