July 9, 2019. The date when Dinesh Karthik last played for India. It was the semi-final of the World Cup against New Zealand when Karthik was asked to bat out of his regular position and in a different role than planned, sent up to number 5 to weather the storm, and he managed 6 runs off 25 balls.
Surprisingly, Karthik was dropped from India’s T20I team as well after that. Now, almost theee years after he last donned the blue jersey, the 37-year-old is set to for another, and possibly his last comeback in the Indian team as he’s been named for the upcoming South Africa T20I series, where Karthik and many other players will stake a claim for India’s T20 World Cup squad.
This recall after three years has come on the back of a thunderous and consistent sow in the IPL 2022. Batting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Karthik struck 330 runs at a strike rate of 183 and was unarguably the best finisher of the tournament.
Dinesh Karthik made his selection inevitable: MSK Prasad
Former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad noted two reasons why Karthik was able to break the door down on the selectors.
Prasad said that Karthik now has role clarity of a finisher – something which he didn’t have in his long career until the last few years and he seesawed between top-order and middle-order positions.
“It is really impressive how he performed in certain situations. I have not really seen Dinesh Karthik in this state of mind in the last one and half decade. He is in the best frame of mind so that’s a reason,” MSK Prasad told NDTV in an interview.
He made his selection inevitable – MSK Prasad
Second, MSK Prasad explained, that there aren’t many and as successful and in-form finishers as Dinesh Karthik is in India currently. These two factors, according to MSK Prasad, made Karthik’s recall to the national side certain.
“He made his selection inevitable. Now that he is here again, he will get his opportunities, he can make an impact. Not many players are there in that particular role (finisher’s). Probably, the selectors would have felt to give him one last try, because of the form he has exhibited in the IPL,” he added.
