The 37-year-old Indian wiki-batter Dinesh Karthik was looking at the peak of his career where the opportunity of playing for India was consistently knocking on his door in current times. But the reasons behind the long gap and in/out of Karthik from the team has a separate story to be told. He made his debut in one day international on the date of 5 September 2004 and after a month he appeared for the first time in the white jersey for India on 3 November 2004.
His T20 appearance in the year 2006 made him more famous in the international sphere of cricket. But his contemporary Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a vital role in checkmating him on every spot of the team selection. Basically, Dinesh Karthik was renowned as an attacking batsman who didn’t know even the smallest technical aspect of batting. Which actually went in the favor of Dhoni until he grabbed the full-fledged leadership of the Indian team. But below are the three exact reasons which actually halted the presence of DK in the Indian National team in a consistent manner.
#1. MS Dhoni’s Strong Position After Winning 2007 T20 WC.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has taken a solid lead in the race of permanent wicketkeeper-batsman of the Indian team with Dinesh Karthik after he victor India in the maiden edition of the 2007 T20 World Cup. Until 2006, both players were standing on the same stance in the race of picking for the Indian national side, but this big triumph under the leadership of MSD has completely thrown DK out of the race for the vacant slot of specialist wicketkeeper in the side.
The T20 World Cup victory also pitched Dhoni as a perfect candidate to replace Rahul Dravid as a captain in limited overs format in 2007, alongside as the Test captain in 2008. Afterward, DK only got chances in the absence of MS Dhoni due to injuries or other issues.
#2. DK’s Lack Of Consistency With The Bat.
The second cause behind the disappearance of DK from the national side is the lack of consistent run-flow from his bat. It has manifested from his number of runs scored by compiling all three configurations of the game. He has made 3302-runs in 162 international fixtures with an average of just 20.38. This figure unhindered the performance of Dinesh Karthik in the matches which he got to play in the absence of his prime contender MS Dhoni.
Also, his exhibition with the bat wasn’t too impressive in the IPL, he is the second player after MSD to play the most number of games in the league. But the average of DK in the aspect of run-making merely makes a tally of 26.8 runs per game, on the other side, Dhoni has a vibrant mean of 39.27 runs per match in an aggregate of 234 matches.
#3. Failed On Capitalizing The Opportunities.
The inability of Karthik to capitalize on the given opportunities also proved as a speed breaker in his career. After the retirement of MS Dhoni from test cricket in 2014, the selectors opted for Wriddhiman Saha instead of Dinesh Karthik, due to his bizarre performances in the previously played matches for India. In the tour of England in 2018 as Saha was injured, Dinesh Karthik got a call for the side again.
But, he again failed miserably to stitch fantastic knocks with the bat and alongside his wicket keeping was also looking edgeless, which resulted in the inclusion of his other competitor Rishabh Pant in the side. And as Pant slammed a majestic ton in the Oval Test, he reserved his place as a permanent Wiki-batsman of the Indian test team. But finally, on the basis of sharp sailing in the latest edition of the Indian Premier League, he has got a place in the Indian T20 side and is also about to get a ticket for this year’s T20 World Cup of Australia.
Also Read: Prime Indian Players To Make Their T20 WC Debut In 2022
