Kaarthick and ’keeping appear hand in glove

By the end of the day, though, he believed he’d had a ‘‘great experience and a really lovely time’’.

His spell behind the stumps didn’t begin too well. Kaarthick seemed to be in awe of the moment, looking a little out of place, as he struggled to collect balls in the initial overs. ‘‘Initially I was a little nervous’’, he told The Indian Express. ‘‘But as the day went on, and with encouragement from Rahulbhai and Laxmanbhai, I settled down very well.’’

How did he cope with pitch? ‘‘The key is to watch the ball closely from the bowler’s hand. I did just that and also concentrated very closely. That really helped my cause during the day’’, he said.

That he did settle down nicely was also evident in the way the spinners flighted the ball more and appeared confident while bowling down the leg-side.

Kaarthick’s day was summed up by one delivery from his namesake. Michael Clarke, batting on 17, was beaten for pace by Murali Kartik and the bails were neatly whipped off by the new wicket-keeper.

‘‘That stumping and a couple of leg-side takes really helped me feel nice about the whole thing’’, said Kaarthick.

And what did the spinners have to say about Kaarthick? ‘‘He’s kept pretty well. It’s not easy to keep to Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh on this track’’, said left-arm spinner Kartik.

Even Kiran More, a former wicket-keeper himself and now chairman of selectors, had a ‘‘encouraging words’’, Kaarthick said, and that made him feel ‘‘really very good’’.

However, he is aware his job is not even half done. He’s come in with a reputation as a batsman and his team needs him to deliver now more than ever. Hence coach John Wright was hard at work with the new recruit at the end-of-day nets.