New Delhi, May 23: Dinesh Karthik’s international career was a classic case of what could have been after the arrival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni but on Wednesday, when he said goodbye to the game at the end of his team’s IPL campaign, it was from a stage he made his own over the past 17 years.
The Eliminator between his Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals ended up being Karthik’s swansong, bringing down curtains on a 20-year-old career marked by a series of comebacks across formats.Twenty six Tests, 94 ODIs and 60 T20s over two decades don’t make for eye-popping numbers but the forever fidgety 38-year-old managed to stay relevant till the very end despite spending more time in the commentary box than on the field over the past couple of years.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup squad announcement, Karthik forced himself into the selection debate for the wicket-keeper batter’s role with head-turning performances for RCB but that one final comeback wasn’t meant to be as selectors rightly went for younger talent.
While he was commentating on the India-England Test series in February-March, Karthik had made up his mind on retirement but the world only got to know when Michael Atherton let it slip in a podcast with the Tamil Nadu stumper.
Having played for as many as six teams in the IPL since the tournament’s inception in 2008, Karthik can be proud of his record in the world’s premier T20 league.He finished as an IPL winner with close to 5000 runs over 17 seasons besides taking 145 catches and effecting 37 stumpings.
He batted at various positions all these years but his days at the RCB as a finisher over the past three seasons stood out.In a format increasingly ruled by power-hitters, Karthik relied on his experience, game awareness and touch to find the boundaries at will.His 330 runs at a strike rate of 183 in 2022 earned him a recall to the Indian team for the T20 World Cup but that happened to be his last time in national colours.
He scored at an even higher clip this season but despite making himself available for the upcoming World Cup, he deep down knew his comeback saga with Indian cricket had come to an end.
The Chennai-born cricketer was only 19 when he made his India debut in an ODI against England at Lord’s in September 2004.He announced his arrival on the big stage with a spectacular stumping of opposition skipper Michael Vaughan.
Three months later, he made his Test debut against Australia but his international career could never really take off due to middling performances and rise of Dhoni. (PTI)
