In 2003-04, the Indian team had a huge void in the team. It was the empty place of a wicket-keeper. The ouster of Nayan Mongia from the team after the match-fixing speculations launched the Indian team management into finding an able contender to replace him.
At this time, the board tried many candidates for this vital role. Even the batsman of Rahul Dravid’s stature had to keep wickets for some time. Finally, India discovered the boy from Ranchi, and the problem was resolved for at least the next 10 years.
The keepers who had been tried earlier were Ajay Ratra, Vijay Dahiya, MSK Prasad, Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik. Now, even though Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik were promising with the bat, their skills with gloves lacked discipline.
Dinesh Karthik made his Test debut as early as November 2004. He was given a long rope by the selectors but he could not make any substantial scores to settle himself in the team. By the end of 2005, Dhoni had clearly emerged as the better batsman and the better keeper thus keeping Karthik and others out of the team.
Sensing the dismal future as a wicket-keeper, Karthik started working on his batting ferociously much like Parthiv Patel. His golden hour came in England when he seized the opportunity to open alongside Wasim Jaffer in the 2007 England tour.
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Making the most, Karthik emerged as the highest scorer for India in a series where there were batting legends batting around him. This brilliant success did not last long and a lean phase knocked him out of the team. Since then the wicketkeeper-batsman could never establish his spot in the Indian team.
Playing for Tamilnadu, Karthik raised his batting to the next level in upcoming years. He became a dependable name in the IPL cricket and he always remained amongst the most sought out players. This year he will be captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders team.
In 2017, Karthik received a call-up to replace the injured Parthiv Patel for the third Test against South Africa. He soon earned a selection for the Nidahas Trophy T20 tournament in Sri Lanka with Dhoni taking a rest.
The final gave Dinesh Karthik a perfect platform to show what he is made of. Coming in to bat when the team needed 34 runs in the last two overs, Dinesh Karthik took the match in his hands and scored a lightning-quick 29 runs off 8 balls to make India the Champion.
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The blinding knock has made Dinesh Karthik the Indian hero for the first time in his career which is 14-year old. The young-at-heart wicketkeeper will now be longing for the IPL glory to firmly settle in the memory of fans not as just a standby but as a permanent support.
