Dinesh Karthik by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:

KD Karthik

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DateLine: 18th June 2009

 

It took just one season for Dinesh Karthik to transform from an obscure second-choice wicketkeeper for Tamil Nadu to a serious contender for a berth in the Indian squad. As a 17-year-old playing his first season in 2002, he showed glimpses of his batting talent but his wicket keeping wasn't up to scratch, resulting in him being dropped for the Ranji Trophy knockout matches. However, his impressive showing in the Under-19 World Cup in Dhaka - including a whirlwind 70 in a must-win game against Sri Lanka - two vital hundreds in the Ranji Trophy knock-out and an improved showing behind the stumps resulted in him emerging as a contender for the national squad. He was picked in the Indian one-day squad, as replacement for Parthiv Patel, in August 2004, and made his debut in a NatWest Challenge game against England where he pulled off a superb stumping. He made his Test debut against Australia in the fourth Test at Mumbai. He has been brought back in the side courtesy his good show with Delhi Daredevils in IPL second edition and three key batsmen missing from the Indian line-up. In fact his absence from the T20 World Cup in England was also hard to digest considering his prowess in the batting department and the form he looked in during IPL.