Dinesh Karthik has completed 16 years in international cricket, having made his India debut as wicketkeeper in 2004, on this day, against England in ODIs at Lord’s. He was 19 years old when he made his debut and was touted as one of the best keepers in domestic cricket with an excellent batting ability as well.
He was handed the India Test cap in November the same year against Australia in Mumbai and made his T20I debut in 2006 against South Africa, in what was India’s first-ever international in the format.
Karthik went onto be part of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team and was given ample opportunities to cement his place in the team, but failure to show the mettle with the bat meant that he lost the place to MS Dhoni.
However, Karthik continued to be picked as a specialist batsman in all three formats and even scored a century in Tests as an opener. However, inconsistent batting performances have resulted in him not having a long run in the Indian colors.
Recently in 2018, he was called to play Test cricket once again, as Wriddhiman Saha was injured and even his replacement Parthiv Patel got injured as well. Karthik played two Tests on England tour but failed with the bat.
In all, Karthik has played 26 Tests, 94 ODIs, and 32 T20Is for India scoring 1025, 1752, and 399 runs with one century and 16 half-centuries to his name.
However, he has etched his name in India’s cricketing history due to his amazing knock of 29* in 8 balls in the finals of the 2018 Nidahas Trophy, when he hit a six off the last ball when five runs were needed to win against Bangladesh.
Currently preparing for the upcoming IPL 2020, where he will lead the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Karthik tweeted about the occasion and wrote, “Congratulations to me and international cricket, it's our 16 year anniversary. We've been through lots of ups and downs, but the journey had always been great.I can't wait to see what it has in store for me, for the years to come ❤️”
India teammate Hardik Pandya reacted to Dinesh Karthik’s tweet with a fire and heart emoji.
