Dinesh Karthik 'the ageless finisher' for India in T20Is: 31* in 2006 to 55 in 2022
India Today
Dinesh Karthik, India's best player in the 82-run win over South Africa, had played the winning hand in the nation's first-ever T20 international against the same opponents at the Wanderers stadium. India won by six wickets in 2006. Number five batter Karthik was the finisher in that famous win, unbeaten 31 off 28 balls, the second-highest Indian scorer after Dinesh Mongia (38 off 45 balls).
Veteran India wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik once again displayed his finishing prowess to help the hosts seal a massive 82-run victory over South Africa at Rajkot on Friday and send the five-match T20I series into a decider. The 37-year-old Karthik slammed his maiden T20I fifty to produce late fireworks as India posted 169/6 in their 20 overs.
Karthik, though, starred as he accelerated to a stellar finish. Karthik smashed nine fours and two sixes in his entertaining knock, bringing the crowd to their feet. His half-century came off 20 balls. Karthik is India’s longest-serving T20 player, having featured in their maiden T20I game in 2006 against South Africa at Johannesburg.
KARTHIK 2006
Virender Sehwag was leading the national side in India’s first-ever T20 game, incidentally, the only T20 international appearance played by Sachin Tendulkar. Karthik made his T20 debut, also the debut for the entire Indian team in the 20:20 format, including Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and the skipper, to name a few who had stepped out into T20 territory at the Wanderers. Notably, all these players have retired.
Karthik was the first Indian cricketer to win the player of the match award in T20Is. He achieved this feat during India’s first T20 match against South Africa in 2006. Batting at number five, Karthik scored 31 runs off 28 balls as India won the match by six wickets.
A batter from that era remaining relevant in 2022 shows the distance the 36-year-old batter has traveled. MS Dhoni kept wickets on India’s T20 debut at Wanderers, and his heir in the national squad, Rishabh Pant, was India's wicketkeeper in the Rajkot T20I.
KARTHIK 2022
