Dinesh Karthik is somewhat of a cricketing enigma. He made his debut for India even before the mighty Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and has represented India even after Dhoni’s retirement.
Karthik hasn’t announced his international retirement yet, even though he last played for India in 2022. While he has taken up multiple commentary stints, even covering some of India’s games, there’s always this feeling that he might just make his way back into national reckoning. He’s immortal in that sense.
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Now, in IPL 2024, Karthik notched up his first half-century of the season, coming off just 22 balls, against Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 11 at the Wankhede Stadium.
DINESH KARTHIK HIT 4 BOUNDARIES INTO THIRD MAN REGION IN A SINGLE OVER 🤯pic.twitter.com/Y336pPOgYT
Apart from Virat Kohli, Karthik has been the only other player who has escaped criticism. RCB’s batting lineup do not justify their on-paper strength, but Karthik, at 38, has been a bright spot for them. In a crucial year for the Indian team, Karthik is once again making a case for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad.
In this article, The Sporting News takes a look at Dinesh Karthik’s record in IPL in World Cup years since 2019.
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Karthik always seems to be turning it up by a couple notches whenever there’s a T20 World Cup / ODI World Cup on the horizon later in the year.
The trend started in 2017, when he scored 361 runs in 13 innings, averaging 36.10 and striking at around 140 for the now-defunct Gujarat Lions. He was selected for the India squad for the ICC Champions Trophy later that year, coming in as a replacement for the injured Manish Pandey.
Similarly, he performed exceedingly well in 2019 and 2022, booking his tickets for the ODI World Cup and T20 World Cups, respectively.
He wasn’t picked for the 2021 and 2023 World Cups as the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul had overtaken Karthik in the contention race.
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During the MI vs RCB clash on April 11, former MI skipper Rohit Sharma, who is set to lead India at the 2024 T20 World Cup, said something to Karthik during the break between overs.
Broadcasting footage of the match, and the audio captured by the stump mic, helped the fans figure out what Rohit told Karthik.
“Shabaash DK, World Cup khelna hai abhi (brilliant DK, you have to play the World Cup)”, Rohit told DK, as captured by the stump mic.
World cup chal raha hai iske dimag me 😭 pic.twitter.com/FEE6oNf1Hv
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Parshva is a Content Producer for The Sporting News’ India edition.
