Top 5 moments in Dinesh Karthik's career
Dinesh Karthik has been in and out of the Indian team since the year 2004. In a stop-start career of almost 14 years, the 32-year-old wicket-keeper batsman from Tamil Nadu has not been given a consistent run by the selectors.
The emergence of MS Dhoni as the wicket-keeper-batsman or that of Virender Sehwag as an opener in Test cricket, has sidelined him.
After the retirement of Dhoni, Karthik has till date failed to establish a permanent place in the Indian team and is competing with the likes of Wriddhiman Saha and Parthiv Patel for a place in the Test squad.
In the limited opportunities he has represented India, Karthik averages 27.78 in 37 Test innings, 29.92 in 67 ODI innings, and 33.62 in 17 T20 internationals. Though the averages may not reflect much about the career of Karthik, what needs to be considered is that he has played only 121 international games for India in a span of 14 years and has rarely been the first choice in the playing 11.
However, there are a few moments in his career which have lasted in the minds of the Indian cricket fans. Here is a look at such memories:
#5 India vs England - Lords 2004
India had already lost the three-match ODI series against England in the year 2004 after being thrashed in the first couple of matches. And in the third ODI, they handed a debut to 19-year-old Karthik, at Lords.
Though the wicketkeeper-batsman could not contribute much with the bat, he got India back in the game by stumping England's top scorer Michael Vaughan in the run chase. Karthik smartly moved down the leg side to collect a wide from Harbhajan Singh and stumped Vaughan, who had looked to charge the off-spinner.
The sight of a 19-year-old wicketkeeper being athletic and stumping a batsman was indeed refreshing to see for the Indian fans. India went on to win the match by 23 runs.