Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Krishnakumar Dinesh Karthik
Born June 1, 1985, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu
Current age 23 years 129 days
Major teams India, Delhi Daredevils, India A, India Blue, India Under-19s, Indian Board President's XI, Tamil Nadu
Also known as Dinesh
Batting style Right-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

967

129

29.30

1924

50.25

127

ODIs

330

22.00

473

69.76

T20Is

31*

16.75

115.51

First-class

2825

134

31.38

157

List A

1593

116*

26.55

Twenty20

365

56*

21.47

297

122.89

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

ODIs

T20Is

First-class

5.60

List A

Twenty20

Career statistics

Test debut

India v Australia at Mumbai, Nov 3-5, 2004 scorecard

Last Test

Sri Lanka v India at Galle, Jul 31-Aug 3, 2008 scorecard

Test statistics

ODI debut

England v India at Lord's, Sep 5, 2004 scorecard

Last ODI

India v Australia at Mumbai, Oct 17, 2007 scorecard

ODI statistics

T20I debut

South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006 scorecard

Last T20I

Australia v India at Melbourne, Feb 1, 2008 scorecard

T20I statistics

First-class debut

2002/03

Last First-class

Sri Lanka v India at Galle, Jul 31-Aug 3, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

2002/03

Last List A

India A v Australia A at Chennai, Sep 26, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006 scorecard

Last Twenty20

Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals at Mumbai, May 30, 2008 scorecard

It took just one season for Dinesh Karthik to be transformed from an obscure second-choice wicketkeeper for Tamil Nadu to a serious contender for a berth in the Indian squad. Karthik may be a cherub-faced, shy boy off the field, but he has shown his ability to attack under pressure, and improvise, on it. As a 17-year-old playing his first season in 2002, he showed glimpses of his batting talent but his wicketkeeping wasn't up to scratch, resulting in him being dropped for the Ranji Trophy knockout matches. However, his impressive showing in the Under-19 World Cup in Dhaka - including a whirlwind 70 in a must-win game against Sri Lanka - two vital hundreds in the Ranji Trophy knock-out and an improved showing behind the stumps resulted in him emerging as a contender for the national squad. He was picked in the Indian one-day squad, as replacement for Parthiv Patel, in August 2004, and made his debut in a NatWest Challenge game against England where he pulled off a superb stumping. Shortly afterwards, he was called up to make his Test debut against Australia in the fourth Test at Mumbai. After managing just one fifty in ten Tests, he was axed in favour of the flamboyant Mahendra Singh Dhoni but he returned for India's tour to South Africa towards the end of 2006. He cemented his place in both Tests and ODIs and was chosen for the Bangladesh tour, India's first assignment after the forgettable World Cup, as a specialist Test opener. He scored his maiden Test ton in the second Test at Dhaka.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan May 2007

Aug 9, 2008

Dinesh Karthik and Harbhajan Singh celebrate a wicket © AFP

Aug 3, 2008

Dinesh Karthik sweeps in the pursuit of quick runs © AFP

Aug 2, 2008

Mahela Jayawardene is caught by Dinesh Karthik © AFP

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