Krishna Kumar Dinesh Karthik has been a prolific scorer in the domestic circuit. Having made his debut in 2004 in both formats of the game, he lost his place in the national squad to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who, in later years, went on to become a legend of world cricket.

In an interaction with me immediately after helping his team, Tamil Nadu, win the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017, defeating Bengal, Dinesh Karthik spoke about his losing the place to MS Dhoni.

Dinesh Karthik said, “Yes, Dhoni was performing well and he rightfully deserved to be playing for the country. Now looking back I feel proud that my position was taken over by someone who later went on to become a legend of the game and won many laurels for the country. He has gone on to win the Championship Trophy, 50-over World Cup, 20-over World Cup and IPL titles also. So I really feel happy for Dhoni’s achievements.”

Six significant facts about Dinesh Karthik :-

1. Dinesh Karthik made his ODI debut and showcased his wicket-keeping talent with his electrifying stumping of Michael Vaughan off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh in the third Natwest Challenge Trophy, played on 5^th September, 2004, at Lord’s, just when Vaughan was getting dangerous, chasing a target of 205 runs.

Vaughan’s dismissal put a brake on the England onslaught and India eventually won the game by 23 runs.

2. Playing as a pure batsman and opener in the England series 2007 (Pataudi Trophy), featuring in 6 innings, Dinesh Karthik had scored 263 runs at a decent average of 43.83 with 91 runs as his individual best. He had proved that he could also open innings successfully in ‘outside the subcontinent conditions’ but failed to capitalise on the same.

3. Dinesh Karthik has represented five franchisees in the iconic tournament, Indian Premier League. He was with Delhi Daredevils for the first three editions. Moved over to KXIP in 2011 but was bought back by DD in 2012. The next two editions, he represented Mumbai Indians. The 2015 editions saw Dinesh Karthik donning the RCB colours while in 2016 he was purchased by Gujarat Lions.

Having featured in 150 games, in all the editions (including IPL 2017 currently under way) put together , remaining unbeaten on 17 occasions, DK has accumulated 2,863 runs at an average of 21.52 with 86 runs being his personal best. He has 14 half-centuries to his credit.

From behind the stumps, he has held on to 87 catches and has effected 26 stumpings.

4. Dinesh Karthik was the first Indian player to win the Player of the Match award in T20Is. Playing against South Africa on 1^st December, 2006, DK went in to bat No 5 and scored a 28-ball 31 runs and helped India reach the target of 127 runs.

5. Dinesh Karthik was bought for an astronomical figure of Rs 12.5 crores by the IPL franchisee, Delhi Daredevils, in the 2014 auctions thus becoming the then second highest paid cricketer in IPL. However, he failed to justify his price and was later on released by the franchisee in the subsequent year.

6. Dinesh Karthik played a stellar role and helped in his team Tamil Nadu win the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017 and the Deodhar Trophy 2017 respectively. He single-handedly scripted the victory on both occasions.

In the interaction with me about IPL in March 2017, Dinesh Karthik had said, “IPL has been a great learning experience. One gets to rub shoulders with the who’s who of world cricket and gets to learn the nuances of the game from the stalwarts from close quarters.”

Dinesh Karthik went on to add, “IPL platform also gives opportunity to play against the best bowlers of the world, which otherwise would not be available in the domestic circuit.”

Despite his excellent performance in the domestic sector and in the ongoing IPL, the Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper-batsman does not find a place in the Indian squad for the ensuing Championship’ Trophy 2017.

However, according to sources, Dinesh Karthik has been listed as ‘stand by’.