Dinesh Karthik

The image of Dinesh Karthik stumping Michale Vaughan in 2004 is still in the minds of ardent cricket fans. But despite showing a lot of promise, he was not able to make it very big in international cricket.

Table of Contents

1. Biography - About Dinesh Karthik
2. Dinesh Karthik - Along the Years
3. Records
4. Career
5. Family

Biography - About Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik was an integral part of India’s win over England in Test series in 2007. But he failed to capitalise on his chances and his below-par wicketkeeping ensured that he was going in and out of the Indian national squad. He may have had an unfulfilling international cricketing career but his stint in IPL has been quite good. He was picked by different sides in different seasons for a handsome amount of money and was even-handed the captaincy of Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018 replacing Gautam Gambhir.

Dinesh Karthik - Along the Years

*Last Updated on 13 Sept 2019

Awards & Records

Dinesh Karthik is the first-ever Indian cricketer to win a Twenty20 International Man of the Match award. He got in while playing against South Africa in 2006. He also holds the record of facing the most number of deliveries, 18, by an Indian batsman for scoring no runs in ODI.

Career

Domestic Career

Dinesh Karthik's tryst with cricket started at the age of 10. He first coach was his father. Karthik trained hard with the help of his father. In his initial year, he played in Tamil Nadu’s youth teams. From this, he steadily climbed the ranks and made his Under-14s debut in 1999 for Tamil Nadu. A year later, he was promoted to the Under-19s and the following season he made his first-class debut.

Karthik was called to Ranji Trophy team at the start of the 2003-2004 season. He scored 438 runs in the tournament, which included two centuries, one each in the semi-final and the final. This performance of his earned him a place in India squad for the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh. In the 2008-09 and 2009-10 season of Ranji Trophy, Karthik gave a series of strong performances. In 2009-10 he was made the captain of Tamil Nadu Ranji team.

IPL Career

Dinesh Karthik played in the inaugural season of the IPL for Delhi Daredevils. In 2011, he was bought by Kings XI Punjab for $900,000. The next season, he joined Mumbai Indians for $2.35 million. In IPL 2014, he came back to Delhi Daredevils. In 2015, he went to Royal Challengers Bangalore and in 2016 to Gujarat Lions. In 2018 season, he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders and was made the captain of the team. He took the team to the playoffs but lost there.

International Career

Karthik made his Test debut against Australian cricket team in 2004 in Mumbai. He failed to make an impact in his initial innings. He played in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy but was eventually replaced by MS Dhoni. In the subsequent series, Dhoni kept performing better and Karthik was unable to capitalise on his chances. Although he was included in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup squad he didn’t play a single match in the tournament.

After India’s poor performance in the 2007 World Cup, the regular openers were dropped Karthik got a chance to open the innings. By mid-2007, he had established himself as the regular opener for the team. But this didn’t last for long as he was shifted down the batting order. He also kept going in and out of the team which did little to help his cause of getting a permanent spot in the squad.

Karthik’s ODI debut also came in 2004 against England. Karthik was also selected for the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007. He was not able to perform well and was replaced by Rohit Sharma for the semi-final and the final. In 2009, he was called back to India’s ODI squad to replace Dhoni, who was banned due to slow over-rate. He was again recalled for the team for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

The 2018 Nidahas Trophy final is most probably the greatest highlight of Karthik’s career where he played a match-winning innings and helped India win the series by hitting a six on the last ball when five runs were required. In 2019, he was named in the Indian squad for the 2019 ICC World Cup.

Family

Karthik’s father, Krishnakumar was a first division cricketer from Chennai. He was not able to make it big in the cricketing arena and took the mantle of training his son from a young age. Karthik is married to Dipika Pallikal, with whom he tied the knot in 2015. This is his second marriage after getting divorced from Nikita Vanjara in 2012. Former Indian cricketer Robin Singh has played the role of a mentor and coach in Karthik’s life.