Karthik at the right stage in his career to lead a side, feels Katich

Kolkata, April 5 - Kolkata Knight Riders' batting coach Simon Katich feels newly appointed skipper Dinesh Karthik is at the right stage in his career to lead the side which was so successfully shepherded by Gautam Gambhir till the last season.

Gambhir, who led KKR to titles in 2012 and 2014, left the city-based franchise to join his home team Delhi Daredevils ahead of this IPL and the baton was handed over to Karthik.

Karthik, 33, recently hit a last-ball six to single-handedly drag India out of a hole and register an improbable triumph which not only catapulted him to unprecedented stardom for the national team.

"He's in the perfect time of his career to really grab the opportunity. He's done that with Tamil Nadu with a fair bit of success. We see that as a bonus for us," Katich told reporters on the sidelines of KKR practice at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.

Asked if pressure of captaincy would affect his batting, the Aussie former southpaw said Karthik will have enough experienced players around him and it is also his role as the batting coach to ease the pressure off him.

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