Karthik targets turnaround after early failures

For two hours on Wednesday afternoon Dinesh Karthik batted in the optional nets without taking a break. The Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper-batsman faced all kinds of bowlers: from the extreme pace of New Zealand fast man Adam Milne to the gentle yet cunning left-arm spin of Daniel Vettori and testing spells from the net bowlers. Karthik hit some, missed some and was often beaten by seam and spin.

So far in this IPL, Karthik has lasted 19 deliveries in the two matches scoring only 15 runs at No. 3. On both occasions, Karthik played a stroke that was inappropriate to the context of the innings. In the first match, against Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers had got off to a decent start despite the early loss of their captain Virat Kohli and 47 for 1 after seven overs looked a strong enough platform to build on.

Karthik had pulled Andre Russell powerfully for his first four on his fifth delivery. In the next over, having backed out too far down the leg side he tried to cut hard and was bowled by a straighter delivery from Yusuf Pathan.

In Bangalore, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers were 77 for the loss of Gayle at the halfway mark. Karthik attempted a slog sweep against legspinner Karn Sharma, but rushed into his stroke and the top edge was grabbed easily by Kane Williamson at point. It put pressure on Kohli and AB de Villiers as the Royal Challengers middle-order failed to settle down.

The twin failures have affected Karthik, who admits he played those strokes instinctively. "Both were not shots I had programmed; they came out instinctively," Karthik said. "And that can be a little disappointing - when you play shots instinctively and that turns out to be a bad shot. If you programme it and get out, that's fine - it is in your control. But when you play it instinctively then it is not a good sign. So I was upset about that."

Still given a choice he would play the shots again, but with a better plan and mindset, and at an appropriate time. "When you're playing shots in Twenty20, you are always bound to get out," Karthik said. "You cannot be too hard on yourself. If you are too hard, you will stop playing shots and that is not going to help the team. It is about freeing yourself up to play shots mentally, and at the same time playing the right shots."

He put those words into actions in his training. Under the watchful gaze of Royal Challengers' batting coach Trent Woodhill, Karthik worked to a plan, breaking the session into small intervals and specific challenges.

According to Woodhill, the two shots that got Karthik out were not executed properly and it was important to revisit his strengths. "DK is 29, 2000 IPL runs. An important player so it is important to revisit what he does well," Woodhill said. "It was about helping him bring out the gut instinct rather than thinking where I want to hit the ball."

Talking about the purpose of such a lengthy session, Karthik explained it was all about feeling positive: "I felt I can bat a lot and get a good feel. Rather than staying in the room and doing nothing, I feel it's better to come out here and have a bat, talk to the coach. Even if I can improve a little bit, it's always going to help my cricket. I don't believe in over-training but if I can come out here, hit a few balls in the right areas and I feel good about it, that gives me a lot of satisfaction."

Having played for four franchises, Karthik has a wealth of experience and the dual role of a wicketkeeper-batsman has its perks. Karthik has remained one of the biggest earners in the IPL - for the second successive year, he was the most second-most expensive buy in the auction after Royal Challengers paid Rs 10.5 crore (about $1.75 million) in this year's auction.

Karthik's best performance came in 2013 with Mumbai Indians, when he finished a close second to Rohit Sharma. He had an underwhelming IPL 2014 with Delhi Daredevils but still finished as the second-highest run scorer, even as the franchise was stuck in the lower rungs of the table.

As a No.3 batsman, Karthik is the safety belt for Royal Challengers. He needs to bind together the start provided by the openers with the aggression of AB de Villiers and Darren Sammy. It is not an easy job.

"At the top there's Virat and Gayle and below me, there's AB de villiers and Darren Sammy. They are power hitters. If I can just knock it around and give it to them, when my turn comes at the end of the innings, I can tee off as well. But I've been getting out too early for my own good and I'm not liking that. If I can stay there a little longer and if they can play around me and play their shots, that'll be great for us," Karthik said.

Woodhill says his job is to help a player make the right decision regardless of his technique. "There are two things - there is decision-making and execution. You can make the wrong decision and execute well, or you can make the right decision but execute poorly and you are out. So, as a coach, you have got to make sure you are not moving the goalposts. You want players to review their decisions first. Then you load up that area of execution. So if somebody is playing the cut shots, let us make sure you are playing the shot when you are in form. At 2 for 30 your decision-making has to be spot on so that you don't end up 3 for 30."

At the practice session, it was not an easy task. Karthik was beaten by the seam movement of the net bowlers, got bowled, played edgy drives and cuts. He was beaten by Vettori's clever use of the bowling crease where he created angles, making it difficult for the batsman to dominate. And when he offered what seemed like a half-tracker, Karthik pulled unconvincingly. Woodhill kept shouting from the other end asking Karthik to maintain the tempo and not drift.

"I wanted him to get stuck into Dan," Woodhill said with a chuckle. "Players like (MS) Dhoni or (AB) de Villiers control the batting through their tempo. So I am making sure you are walking out to dominate bowlers through good decision-making and strong movements. (That) does not mean big movements (hitting a six), but strong positive movements. That way it is hard for the scoreboard to get in the way of what you are trying to achieve. Whereas if you slow everything down in terms of your tempo, it is hard to put pressure back on the bowlers."

At training on Thursday, Karthik showed the assuredness in his batting that has been missing in the matches. Karthik's strokes had the sound of confidence, but he still needs to translate that into runs.