Dinesh Karthik
| Full Name: | Krishna Kumar Dinesh Karthik |
| Nickname: | DK |
| Profession: | Cricket (Wicket-keeper) |
| Team: | India & KKR |
| Jersey Number: | #21 |
| Birthday: | 01st June 1985 |
| Age: | 33 Years |
| Birthplace: | Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Religion: | Hinduism |
| Height: | 170 cm, 1.70 m, 5’7″ |
| Weight: | 65 kg, 143 lbs |
| Mother: | Padma |
| Father: | Krishnakumar |
| Wife: | Dipika Pallikal |
| Coach: | Robin Singh |
| Net Worth: | Not Known |
Dinesh Karthik Career Stats
# Batting Career Summary
| Match | Inn | Run | HS | Avg | SR | 50 | 100 | 200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 42 | 1025 | 129 | 25.0 | 49.28 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
# Bowling Career Summary
| Match | Inn | Run | Wkts | Eco | Avg | SR | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 00 | 00 |
# Batting Career Summary
| Match | Inn | Run | HS | Avg | SR | 50 | 100 | 200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | 79 | 1752 | 79 | 30.21 | 73.24 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
# Bowling Career Summary
| Match | Inn | Run | Wkts | Eco | Avg | SR | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 00 | 00 |
# Batting Career Summary
| Match | Inn | Run | HS | Avg | SR | 50 | 100 | 200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 26 | 399 | 48 | 33.25 | 143.53 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
# Bowling Career Summary
| Match | Inn | Run | Wkts | Eco | Avg | SR | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 00 | 00 |
# Batting Career Summary
| Match | Inn | Run | HS | Avg | SR | 50 | 100 | 200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 188 | 169 | 3761 | 97 | 26.67 | 130.05 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
# Bowling Career Summary
| Match | Inn | Run | Wkts | Eco | Avg | SR | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 188 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 00 | 00 |
Dinesh Karthik Biography
A wicket-keeper batsman from Tamil Nadu, Dinesh Karthik rose to prominence in International cricket at a very young age, however, inconsistent performances at the highest level and the arrival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni never allowed Karthik to flourish at the big stage.
Nonetheless, he is counted amongst the well-known cricketers in India. In his international career, Dinesh Karthik has played 26 Tests, 94 one-day internationals, and 32 T20 matches, scoring 1025, 1752, and 399 runs respectively.
Here’s a look at his journey from appearing in the under-14 team to representing Indian Cricket Team.
Dinesh Karthik Early Days
Dinesh Karthik was born on 1st June 1985 in Tiruchendur, Tamil Nadu. He stayed at Kuwait for some years during his childhood with his father. His father, Krishna Kumar, also had an obsession for cricket and was, in fact, a first division cricketer. However, due to family circumstances, he had to give up cricket and focus on his work and studies.
Dinesh’s father made sure his son won’t have to face that problem and started training him at a very early age. In a bid to improve his reflexes, he would throw his son leather ball at a very fast speed.
Dinesh Karthik soon came to the reckoning in the age-group cricket. In the year 1999, he was drafted in Tamil Nadu’s under-14 side. Excellent performances meant he was promoted to under-16 in no time.
Karthik kept impressing with his excellent batting display, though his flaws in wicket-keeping were evident. Nevertheless, in 2001, he was selected in the under-19 side. He didn’t have a fruitful season, having scored just 133 runs in seven matches.
However, backing from the team management meant he made a roaring comeback with scores of 227, 126 and 235 against Goa, Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh respectively.
Dinesh Karthik Domestic Career
Dinesh Karthik made his first-class cricket debut in the 2002-2003 Ranji season. He made a valiant 88 against Uttar Pradesh in his second game and 179 runs in the first five matches at an average of 35.80. However, his form dipped after that as he could not even reach past 20 in the next remaining games.
Karthik came back stronger in the 2003-04 season where he racked up 438 runs at an average of 43.80, which includes 2 sixes. Apart from hitting the ball to all parts, Dinesh was excellent with the glove-work as well, taking as many as 20 catches. Both of his centuries came in the knockouts of the tournament. He scored 122 against Railways in the semi-final and then scored another century in the final against Mumbai.
His phenomenal performance in the 2003-04 season helped him get selected for the 2004 Under-19 World Cup.
2004 Under-19 World Cup: Dinesh Karthik didn’t maKe any useful contribution to the team in the mega-event besides playing a valiant 39-ball 70 run knock against Sri Lanka, helping India reach the semi-finals of the tournament. India, however, lost the semi-final game against Pakistan.
2008 and 2009, perhaps, proved to be the best years for Karthik in first-class cricket. With a string of impressive performance to his name in the 2008-09 season, he was made the skipper of the Tamil Nadu team in the 2009-10 Ranji season.
Dinesh Karthik International Career
Dinesh Karthik made his one-day international debut on 5th September 2004 against England. In the same year, he made his Test debut against Australia on 3rd November 2004.
The Tamil Nadu batsman endured a lean run in both the formats and, unfortunately for Karthik, the nation found a devastating wicket-keeper batsman in MS Dhoni. With Dhoni’s arrival in international cricket, chances for making any comeback looked scarce.
Best Test Series: Ahead of the tour to England in 2007, Virender Sehwag made way for Dinesh Karthik as the opener on the test side. Opening the batting for India, Karthik turned up with amazing numbers. He, in fact, ended the season as the highest run-getter, helping India win the test series 1-0. He struck three half-centuries in the series, amassing a total of 263 runs at an average of 43.83.
2013 Champions Trophy: Batting at number four, Dinesh Karthik did a reasonable job in the 2013 Champions Trophy. He scored a fine half-century against West Indies off just 54 balls, helping the side win the game by 8 wickets. India eventually won that tournament after beating West Indies in the final.
With MS Dhoni rested in the Asia Cup 2014, Dinesh Karthik was given the chance to bat in the middle order. However, he couldn’t make any impression in the tournament, ending the tournament with the highest score of 23 against Pakistan.
After MS Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket in 2014, Dinesh Karthik had the chance of donning the gloves, however, Wriddhiman Shaha exception work behind the wickets and gripping knocks made sure the former continues to be on the fringes.
Dinesh Karthik IPL Career
Dinesh Karthik has been a prolific run score in the Indian Premier League over the years.
He was picked by Delhi capitals in the inaugural season for 2.4 crores. He stayed with the franchise for three years before he moved to Kings Eleven Punjab in 2011 and stayed till 2012.
Karthik’s performance remained hot and cold in the first five seasons with DD and KXIP combined.
Ahead of the 2013 season, Mumbai Indians bought the services of the Indian wicket-keeper. It proved to be a breakthrough season for the wicket-keeper batsman, amassing as many as 510 runs at a strike rate of 124.
However, Mumbai didn’t retain him as Delhi bought him back into the set up for the next season, while RCB snapped him in the 2015 edition for a whopping price of 12.5 crores. It eventually proved to be a failed bid, as Dinesh could only muster 141 runs in 16 games at a below-par average of 12.81.
Come 2018, the Tamil Nadu batsman looked a different batsman all-together. In the 2018 edition of IPL, Dinesh Karthik was given the responsibility to lead the side. He wreaked havoc in the tournament, scoring 498 run in 16 matches at an average of 49.80.
Dinesh Karthik Lesser Known Facts
- Dinesh Karthik was born on 1st July 1985 in a Telugu family in Chennai. His actual name is Krishnakumar Dinesh Karthik and is popular with his teammates as DK.
- Dinesh Karthik made his domestic debut in 2012 against Baroda as a wicket-keeper, batting at No. 8. In the second match, he scored an unbeaten 88 runs against Uttar Pradesh, which helped his team Tamil Nadu secure a draw.
- Dinesh Karthik’s international debut happened against England in 2004. Even though he dropped the catch of Michael Vaughan, he displayed exceptional flexibility to achieve a stump out later in that match.
- On 1st December 2006, India won its first-ever T20I against South Africa. Dinesh Karthik scored an unbeaten 28-ball 31 runs to get the Man of the Match. With this, he became the first Indian to win an MoM award in a T20I match.
