Dinesh Karthik

“I want to do a few crazy things like skydiving and bungee jumping. I am quite an adventure junkie.”

“One of my strengths as a person is, I'm very easy-going.”

“I am capable of batting at No. 4, from where I can build an innings. I have performed the role in the past. I have also been coming later down the order and donned the role of a finisher.”

“If you are a good player and if you are good enough to be at that level, you should back yourself to show that you can perform in all situations.”

“It is important to have leadership groups, but at the end of the day I need to be taking the call because I'm responsible for the team and I should know exactly what I'm doing and I believe in that.”

“But at the end of the day, I am a firm believer of the fact that if I can do well nobody can stop me.”

“One of the things you have to deal with is the pressure of expectations. It takes time for people to believe in yourself; to believe you can finish the innings. You try and do it consistently and that's what you aim to do as a batsman.”

“Training helps you get physically stronger and a lot of times it helps you push the bar mentally as well.”

“As a middle-order batsman, when you're chasing, trying to be the best finisher you can be, you're bound to make one or two mistakes.”

“For me, mental toughness is the ability to stay focussed in the present irrespective of what is happening at the match.”

“My dream is to play Test cricket.”

“At the end of the day, it's a game. You play the best that you can. You need to keep a smile. You need to be nice to others. Everybody's trying hard.”

“The most important thing especially in domestic cricket is to enjoy each day there, be nice to people around you and never get frustrated.”

“Well, I've admired Anil Kumble for making optimum use of his talent, loved the tenacity of Rahul Dravid, I say wow to the free-flowing style of AB de Villiers, admired Virat Kohli for the phenomenal way he prepares and his unbelievable ability to finish matches... I also enjoy watching Rohit Sharma bat... See, it's not about one individual.”

“It is important that whenever you do get opportunities to practice, just get in some batting and be in a place where you feel if you get a chance to play, you can do well. It's important to be in that zone and be as practically ready as possible.”

“My strength is my flexibility. As a batsman, I have to adapt to different roles and numbers and frankly, I have been around for a long time now to understand different situations.”