Dinesh Karthik will play for Team India in T20I after 2019 (file photo)
Dinesh Karthik has been nothing but a revelation this IPL and has proved himself worthy of getting selected in team of India's five-match series against South Africa.
The last time that Karthik played in the country's T20I team was in the year 2019.
"If you believe yourself, everything will fall into place!" Karthik said in a post after the selection.
He has stepped up everytime his team RCB needed him as a finisher and made sure to smash runs with the bat. Karthik has hammered 22 boundaries and 21 sixes in 14 matches in this year's edition of the cricket league. He has made 287 runs at a strike rate 191.33.
This was not the first time when Karthik emerged as a game-changer in the T20 format.
Karthik made his T20 debut in 2006 when India toured South Africa - this was India's first international T20 match as well - and has played 32 games for India. A veteran of 218 IPL games, the former KKR skipper is slowly turning out to be a showstopper.
On his T20I debut, South Africa set India a target of 126 runs. Karthik came to bat at No.5 in the 12th over with India's score at 71/3. Karthik and Dinesh Mongia forged a 37-run partnership. Later, Karthik with Suresh Raina helped India win the match by 6 wickets. The Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batsman was named the player of the match for his valuable contribution of 31 off 28 balls with 3 fours and a six.
Whenever there is a discussion about the Nidahas trophy final between India and Bangladesh in 2018, Karthik's match-winning knock of 29 runs in 8 balls with 3 sixes and 2 boundaries is remembered.
Karthik came to bat at No. 7 when the match was inclined in Bangladesh's favour. India needed 34 runs in 12 balls with Rubel Hussain steaming in to bowl the 19th over. Rubel had taken two wickets and given 13 runs in three overs. If Bangladesh thought they had the match in their pocket, Karthik had other plans.
Karthik began with six in the first ball, followed it up with a boundary, and then smacked Rubel into the stands to fetch 22 runs in the over. In the final over, India needed 5 off the last ball and a flat six over extra cover sealed the deal as Karthik walked back to a standing ovation.
In the 11th edition of IPL, Karthik was named the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders. He demonstrated his talent and gave justice to his assigned role of finisher. He scored 498 runs, his second-best aggregate after the 2013 edition. In the eliminator between KKR and RR, Rahane-led Royals chose to bowl first.
KKR were struggling at 51/4 in 8 overs. Karthik stepped forward and made 52 off 38 balls. His valuable partnerships with Shubman Gill and Andre Russell helped KKR post a target of 170. Eventually, the Knight Riders won the match by 25 runs.
Fast forward to the ongoing 15th edition of IPL where his team RCB currently stands at fourth position on the points table. Karthik has proved his worth through his quality batting and contributed to the surge in the RCB scoreboard. After 14 innings, he has scored 287 runs at an average of 57.40 and a strike rate of 191.33.
Having found the sweet spot, the wicketkeeper-batsman would like to continue the same form in Team India in the upcoming series starting from 9th June. The T20 rubber will start in the national capital with the remaining matches being held at Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Bengaluru respectively.
Full squad: KL Rahul (Capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(VC) (wk),Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
