Karthik became the first Indian ever to participate in South Africa's SA20.
Karthik joined the Royals as a replacement for England's Jos Buttler. The wicketkeeper-batter lauded South Africa's premier T20 league, saying that he wanted to play some really competitive cricket and agreed to feature in the tournament immediately.
Karthik also hailed SA20 as the second best league after the IPL, citing that he is amazed to see the quality of talent in the competition.
"A couple of reasons I joined this league. A) I genuinely believe this is the best comp after the IPL. So, I wanted to play some real competitive cricket and I don't think there is better tournament than this. B) I always wanted to be part of the Royals setup. A lot of my friends played in the Royals setup so when the offer came along, I was more than happy to accept it," Karthik told the commentators during the match.
"A lot of good talent out here. First couple of days, when I came out here, I was pretty amazed to see how much talent is out here. Couple of guys not playing as well. Its a good squad, a good tournament, really looking forward to gelling with the boys here," he added.
Dinesh Karthik, 39, became eligible to play in the SA20 after announcing his retirement from Indian cricket.
As per the BCCI guidelines, Indian players are allowed to take part in overseas leagues after retiring from all formats of the game, including the IPL.