Krishnakumar Dinesh Karthik (born 1 June 1985) is an Indian cricket commentator, coach and former international cricketer. Karthik played for the India national cricket team and also captained Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket. He is currently the mentor and batting coach for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League and London Spirit in The Hundred.
Karthik made his debut for the Indian cricket team in 2004. He was the 4th Indian batsman to play 300 T20 matches. Karthik was a member of the team that won both the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Karthik is also the first Indian ever to win a Player of The Match award in a T20 International, having done so in 2006. Known for his six hitting ability, aggressive batting style, longevity and ability to finish games strong, Karthik was viewed as a crucial asset in the IPL and the India national cricket team for almost two decades.
Karthik made his maiden Test century against Bangladesh and was India's leading scorer in their 2007 Test tour of England, helping India win their first series in England in 21 years. After a drop in form in September 2007, Karthik was dropped from the Test team and only made sporadic international appearances through 2022
Between 2018 and 2020, Karthik was the captain of IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders. He also occasionally worked as a commentator for British channel Sky Sports, most notably during India's 2021 tour of England.
Dinesh Karthik was born on 1 June 1985 at Chennai, India. He began playing cricket at the age of 10. He did his initial schooling at Carmel School and Fahaheel Al-Watanieh School in Kuwait and at Don Bosco School in Egmore from class eight. He was coached in cricket by his father, who was a first-division cricketer. His father encouraged him to take up cricket, after his career itself was cut short due to his educational commitments. Karthik honed his reflexes by having his father throw hard leather balls at him at high speed. He initially trained as a batsman and took to wicket-keeping later, when he represented the Tamil Nadu youth teams.
Karthik made his Tamil Nadu under-14 debut in early 1999, and was promoted to the under-19 team at the beginning of the 2000/2001 season. He made his first-class debut for the senior team the following season.
Karthik made his Test cricket debut in the fourth Test between Australia and India in Mumbai in October 2004, replacing Parthiv Patel (who was dropped for poor wicket-keeping). He scored 14 runs in two innings and took two catches, but was praised for his wicket-keeping on a pitch with variable bounce and spin on which 40 wickets fell in two days.
Karthik was retained for India's next engagement: a two-Test home series against South Africa. In a high-scoring draw where both teams passed 450 in the first innings, Karthik managed only a solitary run in the first Test in Kanpur. In the second Test at Kolkata, he scored 46 runs to help extend India's first innings lead to 106 runs for the host's eight-wicket win.
Karthik had a chance to score highly in India's two-Test tour of Bangladesh in December 2004. Against a team which had never won a Test, India swept the series and won both matches by an innings. Although his team exceeded 500 in both matches, Karthik scored only 25 and 11.
However, he was retained for the three-Test series at home against Pakistan in March. In a high-scoring draw in the first Test in Mohali, Karthik scored only six of India's 516 runs. He then had his best Test batting performance to date, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata against Pakistan. India batted first; Karthik made a start and reached 28, before being run out. India made 407 and Pakistan almost broke even, replying with 393. Karthik scored in the second innings, joining Rahul Dravid in a 166-run partnership to set up a target of 422. The pitch was deteriorating, and India won the match by 196 runs. In the next match, Karthik made only 10 and nine as India collapsed and lost ten wickets on the final day of an otherwise high-scoring match; 1,280 runs had been scored for only 22 wickets in the first three innings.
Dhoni scored 148 in an ODI against Pakistan, and he replaced Karthik for the three Tests at home against Sri Lanka. In ten tests since his debut, Karthik scored 245 runs for an average of 18.84 with one half-century and one other score above 25. He was selected as a back-up wicket-keeper and middle-order batsmen on the Test team in November 2006.
After Dhoni injured a finger, Karthik replaced him for the third Test at Newlands against South Africa for his first Test in over a year. He opened the innings with Wasim Jaffer, allowing Sehwag to bat in the middle order. He used his domestic experience to score 63 in the first innings, combining in a century opening stand and helping India to 414 (enough for a first-innings lead of 41). In the second innings, Karthik scored an unbeaten 38 as the team were all out for 169. In addition to his batting, his wicket-keeping was praised.
Although he did not play a match at the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, after a roster reshuffle Karthik was selected as a specialist opener for a tour of Bangladesh. He scored 56 and 22 in the drawn first Test in Chittagong before scoring his maiden Test century in the second Test in Dhaka, making 129 runs and featuring in a century opening stand as India took an innings victory.
Karthik was a regular opener in the mid-2007 Test series in England. After scoring 76 and 51 in the two tour matches before the Tests, he recorded a half-century in each of the three Tests. In the first Test at Lord's, Karthik made 60 in the second innings before India fell to 9/282 (in pursuit of 380) when rain ended the match early. In the second Test at Trent Bridge, Karthik scored 77 and 22; in the third Test at the Oval, he scored 91. With a total of 263 runs at 43.83, he was the highest scorer in the series for India (who won their first series in England in 21 years). Karthik started the ODI series with an unbeaten 44, but had four consecutive innings where he failed to score more than four runs and was dropped for the final two matches.
He had a lean Test series against Pakistan at home in late 2008. Karthik managed only 39 in two innings of the first two Tests, exceeding single figures only once. In the third Test in Bangalore, Sachin Tendulkar was injured; his replacement, Yuvraj, scored 170. Karthik, batting down the order, scored 24 and 52 in a high-scoring draw and kept the wickets because of Dhoni's injury. In the first innings, Karthik was behind the stumps as India set a world record for the most extras conceded in a Test innings; the 35 byes were the secondmost in Test history.
Karthik was retained for the Test tour of Australia as an opener, and Gambhir was out with an injury. He did not play in the first two Tests, however, because Dravid was elevated to his opening position so Tendulkar and Yuvraj could bat in the middle order. When Dravid and Yuvraj struggled in their new positions, Dravid was moved back to his number-three position and Yuvraj was dropped for the series' third Test; Karthik was not recalled.
He was recalled to the Test team as a wicket-keeper for the July 2008 tour of Sri Lanka when Dhoni took a sabbatical due to fatigue. Karthik played in the first two Tests, but struggled with the bat in the middle order. He scored 36 runs at 9.00, falling all four times to the spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.
He scored an unbeaten 117 against Kerala in the 2009 one-day tournament and was selected for the tour of New Zealand as reserve wicket-keeper. After watching the T20 and ODI series, Karthik played in the second Test when Dhoni was injured; he was criticised for dropping a number of catches.