After failing to make most of the opportunities he got, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik finds himself in a position where he is not second but the third choice after Wriddhiman Saha and Sanju Samson. With the 2015 World Cup still four months away, Karthik is not losing sleep over the selection and wants to focus on the upcoming domestic season. Excerpts from an exclusive interview: Do you see yourself playing the World Cup four months down the line? I would have really like to think on those lines, I had put up unnecessary pressure on me considering that the WC is nearing. I would like to focus and take it each game and see how well I can do. We now have wicket keepers in Sanju Samson and Wriddhiman Saha, do you see them as a competition? They have been around for some time and they are only going to grow. With events like IPL coming in, you find new keepers everyday, so this so called competition is going to increase. 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. So how are you preparing for the WC? Are you looking forward to the fresh domestic season? I am not preparing for the World Cup right now, I am preparing for domestic cricket and if I do well there, the WC will happen. There was a time in your career when you featured in the team as a fielder leaving your core job of wicket keeping, does that affected your concentration? I am one of those who enjoy fielding, for me it's no big deal. At times during the international matches it's fun being a fielder rather than being in the center of the ground. Talking about DD(Daredevils), don't you think their batting lacks the edge? Except you and KP, your team doesn't have good batters! There are a set of people who chose this team and decided to go with that team. So its very hard for me to tell whether that was right or wrong. The auction is a very sensitive process. For the next year, we look to put a very good team on the park and do some changes here and there and come with a better attitude. You attracted a huge price tag in the auction and your performance didn't reflected that. Do you think that figure was affecting your performance? Even I would have paid less my performance wouldn't have changed. For me it's all about going out there and doing well and that's why I have that price tag. I use it as a motivator to keep getting better as a player. During most part of your career you played as a shadow to MS Dhoni. Does that hurt? I would have been a frustrated man had I not achieved what I wanted to achieve as a cricketer. Even with a player like MS( MS Dhoni) around, I ended up playing around 100 Internationals. So I am very happy and satisfied. I like to compete. I don't think there was an iota of regret that I was around when MS was around. He is a very nice character and I have enjoyed my time alongside him. How do you see the Indian team performing in the WC in Australia-New Zealand? This is a very strong unit, there's no doubt about that. WC is an interesting tournament, let's see how things go there, but definitely we are a very strong one-day unit and we are a huge contender for the cup.
