Karthik slammed 41* off 19 balls in the first T20I against West Indies.
Asked to bat first, the visitors rode on skipper Rohit Sharma’s 44-ball 64 at the top and designated finisher Dinesh Karthik’s whirlwind 19-ball 41* to pile up 190/6 on the board.
Defending the total, Indian bowlers displayed a collective brilliance to restrict the hosts to a paltry 122/8. While R Ashwin, (2-22), Arshdeep Singh (2-24) and Ravi Bishnoi (2-26) claimed two scalps each, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-11) and Ravindra Jadeja (1-26) chipped in with wicket apiece.
For his match-defining knock, which included 4 fours and 2 sixes, Karthik earned the Player-of-the-Match award.
After the game, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra said Karthik's performance proves that stats don't reveal the entire picture.
"My Player of the Match is Dinesh Karthik; he was actually chosen as the Player of the Match as well, although Rohit Sharma scored the most runs. This is where stats tell us a few things but hide a lot. They tell that Rohit was brilliant; there is no doubt about it, but when he got out, it seemed India will get stuck."
"How will they get stuck? When Dinesh is there, everything is possible. This player is special, and he has cricket left in him. What a finisher, what a player. Dinesh Karthik came and shone, I mean one more time," Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
According to Aakash Chopra, Karthik could be the only batter in the world who can claim to be a specialised No. 6.
"He might be the only batter in the world who is played at No. 6 as a specialised position. He scored 41 runs off 19 balls, with four fours and two sixes, at a strike rate of 215. He didn't even come at No. 6 this time, he came at No. 7; he came after Jadeja," he stated.
Dinesh Karthik will now be seen in action in the second T20I against West Indies, slated to be played in St Kitts on Monday (August 1).