Dinesh Karthik has been one of those players who loses place in the side due to inconsistent performances. There was no doubt about the talent he poses but there were only doubts of he performing consistently well for his side. This is one of the main reasons Dinesh Karthik has been in and out of the Indian team for over a decade. Another main reason for his downfall and lack of opportunities was the emergence of legendary wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni.
Dinesh Karthik was seen as the next wicketkeeper-batsman for India in the mid-2000s but he had to compete with MS Dhoni to be in the playing XI. Then it was MS Dhoni who cemented his place as wicketkeeper-batsman for India before becoming the captain. It was when Dinesh Karthik was asked to perform the role of a complete batsman in the side. He was also asked to open the innings for India in the year 2007 when India toured England.
Dinesh Karthik during the England test series scored 263 runs and was also the leading run-scorer in that series against England. His average in that test series was 43.83 in the six innings that he played which includes three fifties. The former wicketkeeper-batsman spoke to Aakash Chopra about his career and revealed how MS Dhoni and Rahul Dravid and motivated him to focus on his batting skills.
The former wicketkeeper-batsman of India said to Aakash Chopra that “I never brood over things. My nature has always been what is next? That has always been a constant question to me. At that point, it was to become a batter. There was a spot in the middle-order batsman and then as an opener.
One thing that people, including Dhoni, would say- ‘You’re so talented as a batsman, you can open’. So that gave me a lot of confidence and then Rahul Dravid also said you have the skills to be a pure batter. So I went to domestic cricket, scored a lot of runs, then got an opportunity as an opener and did well”.
Former Indian cricketer also said that when Dhoni took ‘took the complete country by storm’, he knew that the wicketkeeper position is closed.
“When Dhoni came in, he took the complete country by storm and I knew that door was closed. Keeper-batsman is always a decade long-job. Syed Kirmani was there, and Kiran more. Dhoni was a once-in-a-generation kind of cricketer. Take Ian Healy or Adam Gilchrist, if you are a good keeper, you are there for 10-12 years”, Dinesh Karthik concluded.
