The Emergence of Dinesh Karthik

When everybody busy talking about the next big thing in Indian cricket, no prize for guesses ,shikhar dhawan,a handsome lad from Delhi, there stands a boy, now a man from Tamilnadu quietly unfolding and making his presence felt in the Indian squad, Dinesh  karthik.

Observing Dinesh karthik, you can feel a distinct sense of restlessness. He never stands still with bat in his hand, with wicket keeping gloves on, he is constantly shuffling something and moving around like a rabbit in the woods. But do not be fooled by his flamboyance, he is no longer the impetuous teenager with just a desire to play for India.

A meritorious student during his young days, Karthik had the brains and marks to finish his engineering degree.But he decided to use his intelligence in cricket. It was one reason the national selectors put their faith in him,giving him a debut even before he had turned 20.However, Karthik was never able to gain a strong foothold in the Indian squad,despite his talent and brains.He last played for India in 2010 and his comeback now comes on the back of strong performances in the IPL where he was one of the pillars of Mumbai Indians’ title victory.

The twin tons against Sri Lanka, Australia and the patient half century against West Indies shows the mature side of him. The composure, the refrigerator-like temperament and water-tight technique and class have come after the tough times at the beginning of his career. Now is the time when his talent should marry opportunity.

Highlighting a big change in Karthik over the years, skipper MS Dhoni mentioned how he could play a key role in the Indian middle order. “He is someone who can bat really well in the middle order. He is a good runner between the wickets. He reads the situation pretty well and he is someone who can look to go on and play big innings and is what is really important in the middle order. He is technically sound and once he gets going he keeps himself busy throughout the innings.” Dhoni said. Also with the World Cup approaching fast in less than 20 months, India need to identify their specialist batsmen and that was the one reason Dhoni pointed out that he would like Karthik to bat anywhere between No. 3 and not deeper than No. 5 because, then, the team would not extract the maximum out of him.

Will he shine this time? Well, it’s a million dollar question. He has all the ingredients to succeed. But all what he needs to do is cook up a recipe for consistency. If he does so, his next step will be to cook up a recipe for greatness. Let’s keep a closer eye on jersey no. 19!!

Batting and Fielding Averages