Former India captain and ex-chairman of the selection committee Krishnamachari Srikkanth believes that while Dinesh Karthik is a good finisher, middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav is the real finisher in the Indian side.
Since rejoining the Indian team in time for the series against South Africa in June, Karthik has taken the lead as the team's specialised finisher, a high-risk position with a reputation for being exceedingly difficult to perform consistently in.
Karthik's finishing role has recently benefited India, as evidenced by his 27-ball 55 on a difficult ground against South Africa in Rajkot and his unbeaten 19-ball 41 against the West Indies in Trinidad.
Suryakumar, in contrast, has batted in the middle order, scoring a commendable 117 against England, and more recently, opening the batting for the West Indies, with a spectacular 44-ball 76 on a challenging St Kitts pitch.
"A finisher? What do you mean by that? The finisher, in my opinion, is the one who can take the batting from the eighth or twelfth over and go through the twentieth over to help India win the game. Where is the strong finisher when he starts from the eighth or sixth over? Both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are strong finishers. By the way, they start opening. I just can't conclude that because he bats in the final five overs that he is a finisher."
"I would like to term Dinesh Karthik a finisher, he definitely finds a place in my team too. However, actual finishers are guys like Suryakumar Yadav. He is a brilliant finisher. You have Rishabh Pant. You have Hardik Pandya. I think I would like to clarify that a finisher is a guy who takes the team from the 8th over and goes on until the 20th over.
Talking about India's squad for 2022 Asia Cup, Kiran More, former India wicketkeeper and former chairman of the selection committee, still thinks that the squad selected for the tournament in the UAE, starting from August 27, will not be the same squad going for Men's T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November.