Dinesh Karthik - First-class Beginnings

First-class Beginnings

Karthik made his debut at the first-class level in late-2002 against Baroda, playing as a wicket-keeper and batting at No. 8, where he scored 37. He batted throughout the round-robin phase in five matches, scoring 179 runs at an average of 35.80 with a top score of 88* against Uttar Pradesh in his second match. This innings helped Tamil Nadu to avoid an outright defeat, hanging on for a draw with one wicket in hand. However his form tapered off after this match and he failed to pass 20 again during the season. He took 11 catches, but due to his repeated wicket-keeping errors, he was dropped for the final matches.

After being dropped from the senior state team, Karthik was overlooked for the selection in the zonal Duleep Trophy, and played in the Under-19s for South Zone. He had a more productive time in his second zonal season, scoring 180 runs at 60.00 with three half-centuries. He was rewarded with selection in the national Under-19 team, and played in three youth one day internationals (ODIs) against Nepal. He made only 51 runs at 17.00 without taking a catch, but India won all their matches with ease.

Karthik attended a wicket-keeping camp in the off-season under the guidance of former Indian glove-man and chairman of selectors Kiran More, which he credited for improving his technique. After playing for a period in the Chennai League, he returned to the Under-22 team at the start of the season, before being selected for India Emerging Players to play their youthful counterparts from Sri Lanka and Pakistan in late-September. He made 50 runs at 16.66 and took nine catches in three limited overs matches, and then made 35, 7 and 77 for the national Under-19s in some ODIs against the other Asian countries.

After these performances, Karthik was recalled to the Ranji Trophy team at the start of the 2003–04 season. This time, he accumulated 438 runs with an average of 43.80, with two centuries, and took twenty catches. After opening the batting for much of the round-robin phase, and struggling with only 159 runs at 19.87 in four matches, Karthik then played in the zonal Under-19 one-dayers, managing only 28 runs in four innings. Karthik returned to the middle-order for the semi-final against Railways, scoring his maiden first-class century of 122 to help his team take a first innings lead. He followed this with 48 in the second innings, to help Tamil Nadu progress to the final on the basis of the first innings after Railways held on for a draw still more than 300 runs short of their target. He followed this with an unbeaten 109 in the final against Mumbai. His innings was the mainstay of Tamil Nadu’s 294, but Mumbai made 613 to take a first innings lead. Tamil Nadu made 4/393 in the second innings with Karthik not batting, but the first innings lead in the drawn match gave Mumbai the title. Karthik ended with three catches in the innings. However these performances were insufficient to gain regional representation, and he was overlooked for South Zone's matches in the Duleep Trophy.

Karthik was selected in the India squad for the 2004 U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, where he scored 70 runs from 39 balls against Sri Lanka. This helped set up a 56-run win and propelled India into the semi-final, where they were knocked out by Pakistan. Karthik made only seven as India were skittled for 169. He ended the tournament with 163 runs at 32.60.

He then scored two half centuries on an India A tour to Zimbabwe, making 96 and 52 against Zimbabwe Select XI.