Dinesh Karthik is one of the oldest players in Indian cricket who has been hanging around the Indian dressing room on and off since 2004. The Tamilnadu born wicket-keeper batsman plays cricketing shots mostly with a straight bat. When he came to the international arena he was a first choice wicket-keeper but after the arrival of MS Dhoni, Karthik lost his place as a wicket-keeper. However, he made several comebacks as a batsman on the side. There are some interesting facts about Dinesh Karthik, which may put you in awe.
Interesting Facts About Dinesh Karthik
- Dinesh Kumar Karthik was born on 1st June 1985 in Chennai. Karthik had to spend two years in Kuwait as his father would work here.
- Karthik’s father was very supportive of his son’s cricket career. He helped Karthik by making him train hard and improve his batting and keeping in his initial days. His father was a Division A cricketer in Tamilnadu but couldn’t proceed with his career further because his family wanted him to focus on his studies.
- Karthik has got nicknames like “DK” & “Dino”.
- In between 1999 to 2001, Dinesh played for Tamilnadu U-14 & U-19.
- Karthik played his maiden first-class match against Baroda in 2002. The wicket-keeper has accumulated 9620 runs in 167 FC games at a decent average of 40.93.
- Dinesh Karthik represented India in the 2004 U-19 World Cup along with his future India teammates Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, and Robin Uthappa. He made 163 runs in 7 matches.
- Karthik made his first appearance in test cricket in 2004 against Australia in Mumbai. The right-hand batsman scored 14 runs and grabbed 2 catches on an uneven surface.
- The 5ft 6-inch keeper-batsman made his ODI debut against England in 2004. He grabbed everyone’s attention in the match by stumping Michael Vaughan off a wide delivery by Harbhajan Singh.
- Dinesh Karthik played in India’s first-ever T20I match against South Africa in 2006. He won the Man of the Match award in the match for scoring 31 off 28 deliveries, which makes him the first Indian batsman to achieve so.
- Dinesh Karthik was instrumental in India’s Test series win in England in 2007. Karthik was the highest run-getter for India in the series and 3rd overall, with 263 runs in 3 matches.
- Karthik was a part of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning Indian team. He got 3 matches to play and scored 28 runs in 3 matches.
- After having a great domestic season in 2012/13, Karthik made a place in the 2013 Champions Trophy squad for India. India won the event by beating England in the final. Karthik scored 82 runs in 5 matches in the tournament.
- The best knock of Dinesh Karthik’s career came in the Nidhas Trophy Final against Bangladesh in 2018. India needed 34 runs in 2 overs and he played a quickfire knock of 27 runs in 8 balls.
- In the Indian Premier League, Dinesh Karthik has played for 6 teams- Delhi Daredevils (2008-10 & 2014), Kings XI Punjab (2011), Mumbai Indians (2012-13), Royal Challengers Bangalore (2015 &2022), Gujarat Lions (2016-17) & Kolkata Knight Riders (2018-present).
- In the 2014 IPL, Dinesh Karthik was the 2nd most expensive player. Delhi Daredevils bought him for a handsome amount of INR 12.5 Cr.
- Apart from cricket, Karthik likes to dance too. He participated in the dance reality show called “Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina” in 2008 with actress Nigaar Khan.
- Karthik has married twice. His first marriage which lasted for 5 years (2007-12) was with Nikita Vanjara. He remarried in 2013 to Indian squash player Dipika Pallikal following Indian and Christian rituals both.
- From 2021 Karthik has embarked on a new journey of commentary. He did it in the WTC final between India and New Zealand too.
- Dinesh Karthik’s jersey number is 21.
- The Tamil superstar’s estimated net worth is $11 million.
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