The man who was closest to Kamran Akmal all through his match-saving century at Mohali expects that the Pakistan keeper’s brilliant batting form rubs on to him. Rival keeper Dinesh Kaarthick, under pressure to perform with the bat, is inspired to play a similar knock.Talking to The Indian Express after reaching Kolkata for the second Test starting on Wednesday, Kaarthick said, ‘‘Firstly it was good to see a wicket-keeper score runs. More importantly, I thought Akmal batted with a lot of maturity. I have certainly been inspired by what he did.’’Commenting on the points he picked from behind wicket while watching he said, ‘‘If there was one thing I want to pick from his showing, it would be the relaxed manner in which he batted.’’In his sixth Test and yet to record a significant contribution with the bat, Kaarthick certainly needs to find ways to be relaxed and overcome the pressure on him. ‘‘I haven’t really looked at what I have been doing different since I have started playing for India. But yes I am aware that I have not batted upto expectation,’’ he says.
