Dinesh Karthik: The Re-inventor, season finale

“When I went in I just wanted to play out all the overs, as that’s what my captain wanted me to do,” said Dinesh Karthik after the match.
He had just helped India win their first ever T20I, against South Africa. The hosts, who would stage the first T20 World Cup in nine months, had already played three T20Is. Mind you, a big number back then. Only Australia had played four. England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakan, West Indies, Bangladesh, even Zimbabwe had made their debut in the format. But not India. They were about to.
🚨 Limited Time Offer | Express Premium with ad-lite for just Rs 2/ day 👉🏽 Click here to subscribe 🚨
Now, 16 years later, the two teams would meet again in a T20 series; the format has changed, and so has Karthik. To understand the transformation, it’s pertinent to rewind to December 2006 when Karthik walked into a mini-crisis in India’s first T20 International. It was a one-off T20I in a long tour of five ODIs, three Tests, and three tour games. The relevance of the new format match such that it was sandwiched in between the fourth and fifth ODI.Best of Express PremiumPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium

Batting first at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa regered 126/9 . Almost halfway through the chase, India were three down at 71, having lost captain Virender Sehwag (34 off 29), Sachin Tendulkar (10 off 12), and MS Dhoni (0 off 2). In walks Dinesh Karthik.
56 needed off 53 with seven wickets in hand isn’t a situation that’ll make a batting lineup sweat in 2022. This was 2006 though, India’s first exposure to the format. Karthik’s namesake, Mongia had scored 18 off 25 at the other end and managed only 13 more runs in his next 20 deliveries before being dismissed with India still needing 19 off 15.
Karthik orchestrated the chase, scoring 31 off 28, finishing the game with one ball to spare. A tricky task that could’ve gone the other way had it not been for India’s first T20 player of the match. He was one of the only two Indian players who had kept their strike rate above a run a ball.
16 years later, it is surreal but not surprising that Karthik is part of India’s squad for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. Both the format and the player have come a long way.
16 years later, it is surreal but not surprising that Karthik is part of India’s squad for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. Both the format and the player have come a long way. (File)
A one off T20I in between a five-match ODI series pales in comparison to a stand alone five-match T20I series in India, in the scorching heat of June. The economics of the sport are driven around the format now, with a certain Indian Premier League having earned some humble reputation. Karthik was also one of the many beneficiaries of the league. It was his IPL season that got him a spot back in the India’s white ball squad after three years (four in T20).
330 runs in 16 games at 183.88. Even though Karthik’s India numbers aren’t extraordinary (399 runs in 26 innings at 143.05), his IPL season was too delicious to res, and a proof of the fact that he still gets the format better than most.
The 21-year old who just wanted to play out all the overs has went on to become the 37-year old who has made most impact even after being in the middle for short periods of time on the pitch.
India have played 158 more games in the format since Karthik finished their first. He has featured in only 30 more of them. Less than Hardik Pandya (54) and Rishabh Pant (43). Both of whom debuted a decade after that game in 2006. And yet, here he is, at 37, finding a peak in his career and giving anyone who adds ‘finisher’ in their resume, a run for their money.
India have played 158 more games in the format since Karthik finished their first. He has featured in only 30 more of them. (File)
“You don’t want to go to a World Cup with people who have batted in the top four consently and throw them in at five, six, seven and expect them to do well,” Karthik had said in an interview with Cricinfo ahead of the T20 World Cup last year.
“You definitely expect a Hardik (Pandya) or a Jadeja to do well. Who else is there who bats at those numbers for their franchises?”
You, DK?
To add more to the surrealism of the whole saga, let us refresh another Karthik quote. This, three months after he and the man he refers to played their last game for India in two very different contexts.
“I feel I’m well suited to play the role Dhoni played for so many years.”
Cut to Dinesh Karthik getting his Wankhede Stadium moment scoring a 26-ball fifty vs Delhi with his name being chanted out loud.
For Dinesh Karthik, things have taken their time to happen. He’s had to reinvent his game, time and again for a place in the squad. He did so in 2007 becoming a special red ball batter for the series in England. He did so in 2019, when he earned a place in the squad as a middle order batter for the World Cup. And in 2022, he has done it again, as a finisher. In all this time he may not have found a spot in the side for that role specifically, Karthik has still maintained himself as a top level wicketkeeper.

Relate his resume to the contemporary job world context, and Karthik is the one who seamlessly transitioned from the pre-internet to the internet era and is acing it better than those who only know of one time.