Graham Thorpe was, in many ways, an unEnglish batsman -- quietly aggressive, able to adapt to different situations and conditions and, above all, supremely confident against spin. It might come as no surprise then that Dinesh Kaarthick once called Thorpe one of his heroes, for the Tamil Nadu batsman too has displayed similar traits.

Thorpe got the chance to watch his admirer in action during The Oval Test, and the Surrey left-hander was impressed with what he saw.

"I enjoyed watching him bat. I think he is a good player and certainly improved on this tour. At times, he reminds me of Michael Slater. Kaarthick is not a cat on a hot tin roof, but he has a lot of nervous energy. Technically, he played very well. He handled the bounce of the pitch very well," Thorpe said.

The former England middle-order batsman said grooming Kaarthick was very important for Indian cricket as he could be a long prospect at the totem pole position.
         
"Technically, Kaarthick is very sound and it is important for India to groom him because they have to make sure their opening pair is settled for the next five years. This area is very important. For a young man, he is very good and he can plug that gap for India in the next five-ten years," he said.

Thorpe also offered a piece of advice for the youngster to build on his success at the highest level. "Like anybody, you have to have concentration. Mentally, you have to know your own game as well and the important thing about Test cricket is your shot selection. He has showed it in good measure here, but his biggest challenge will be to progress to the next level and make sure that he does not squander the target," he said.

On his own career that experienced a disturbing stop-start process towards the later stages, Thorpe said, "I played 100 Tests for my country, probably I might have played a little more had I not opted out for one year (2002). But that was the best thing I did, and in a way it helped me resurrect my career and go away with my head still held high," he said.