"If he performs like this, he will definitely have his name ahead"- Shaun Pollock on DK

Former South African all-rounder-turned commentator Shaun Pollock has opined that if Dinesh Karthik can continue his stellar form throughout the season, he may break the door and earn himself a place in the national T20 set-up.

Karthik, who has been out of favour from the Indian set-up since the 2019 World Cup, has looked at the height of his powers in the ongoing season of the IPL for the Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB).

He is yet to be dismissed in the three games he has batted so far, registering scores of 32* (14), 14* (7) and a match-winning whirlwind 23-ball 44* against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Speaking at CricBuzz Live following Karthik's sensational heist against Rajasthan, Pollock said, "Yeah, the way he is playing now if this form continues, it is a headache for people at the backend. 

“The only issue he has got is that Rishabh Pant will be the man with the gloves. If his batting is good enough, you never know. Just give him the role and use him on the field,” the former Proteas skipper added.

However, Pollock reckoned that an Indian call-up would be the last thing playing on Karthik's mind at the moment and that he'd be focussing on one game at a time.

"But I don't think even he would want to discuss this at this stage. He would focus on each game, making sure he does his best. But if he performs like this, form-wise, he will definitely have his name ahead," said Pollock further.

Karthik's heist against the Royals was even more remarkable because RCB were reeling at 4/62 when he arrived at the crease.

He took the pressure off by hammering R Ashwin for 21 runs in the 14th over and was ably supported by Shahbaz Ahmed (45 off 26 deliveries) at the other end.

Trent Boult eventually dismissed Ahmed, but DK maintained his demeanor till the end to effectively kill the chase by hitting a couple of boundaries in the penultimate over.