Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik will become the first Indian player to play in SA20 after signing up with the Paarl Royals ahead of the 2025 edition of the tournament. Karthik, who was appointed as the league ambassador alongside AB de Villiers a day ago, will now turn up as a player for the Royals, who let go of Jos Buttler with the SA20 2025 clashing with England's white-ball series against India in January.
Karthik, who retired from Indian cricket following the 2024 edition of the IPL playing his last game for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), joins Joe Root as the Royals' other overseas signing for the season. Karthik is currently commentating in the Hundred in England, will turn up as a player for Paarl Royals in SA20 and will be the batting coach and mentor for RCB from IPL 2025 onwards - multitasking at its best.
The Royals will greatly benefit from Karthik's tactical acumen not only as a finisher but also from his experience of playing over 400 T20 games, playing for six different franchises in the IPL over 17 editions including a couple of stints at the RCB and a captaincy tenure for the Kolkata Knight Riders for a couple of seasons.
"I have so many fond memories of playing in and visiting South Africa," Karthik said on signing up for SA20. "When this opportunity came about, I couldn't say no because of how special it would be to come back to playing competitive cricket and win this incredible competition with the Royals.
"Even though I didn't have the chance to represent the Royals in the IPL, to me it was always a franchise setup and environment that was very attractive as a player. I am delighted to be joining the Paarl Royals team which oozes a lot of experience, quality and potential. I am certainly looking forward to joining the group and contributing to what should be an exciting season," Karthik added.
Since the BCCI doesn't allow the Indian players to branch out and get involved in the overseas T20 leagues, they can only play around the world after retiring. Ambati Rayudu did it last year playing in the Caribbean Premier League for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and then for MI Emirates in the ILT20. Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan also played in the inaugural edition of the ILT20 for the Dubai Capitals while Suresh Raina played for the Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 League two years ago.
Paarl Royals pre-auction squad for SA20 2025: David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dinesh Karthik, Joe Root, Mitchell van Buuren, Codi Yusuf, Keith Dudgeon, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dayyaan Galiem (traded)
