Dinesh Karthik - International Recall As A Batsman

International Recall As A Batsman

In April 2006, Karthik's career was revived when he was recalled to the ODI team by selectors to give Dhoni a rest in the final ODI against England in Indore. He was not required to bat as India cruised to a seven-wicket victory.

He was then reinstated as the reserve wicketkeeper for the tour to the West Indies. after a campaign for India A during April in which he scored 134 runs at 33.50, including a man-of-the-match 75 runs against UAE on a tour to the gulf country. However, Karthik had little to do on his Caribbean sojourn, playing in only one non-first-class tour match ahead of the Tests.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Karthik scored 11 and 85 for India Red in the Challenger Trophy. He then played in two Duleep Trophy matches for South Zone, scoring 95 in the latter against Sri Lanka A.

Karthik was given more opportunities at international level in late-2006 during the ODI tour of South Africa, after Yuvraj Singh was sidelined with a knee injury, and Karthik was given a spot purely as a batsman following the poor form of Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif. Karthik had opened the batting for Tamil Nadu in the previous season in the Ranji Trophy, as well as for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy. Playing in three of the ODIs, Karthik himself struggled, with 42 runs at an average of 14.00, and a top score of 17 as South Africa took a 5–0 whitewash. With India's batsmen struggling, Raina and Kaif were dropped altogether from the Test squad, as Karthik was selected as a back-up wicket-keeper and middle order batsmen in the Test team for the first time in a year. He then scored an unbeaten 31 to steer India to a six-wicket win in the Twenty20 International against South Africa with one ball to spare. After Dhoni suffered from a finger injury, Karthik replaced him for the Third Test at Newlands against South Africa, playing in his first Test in over a year. With regular opener Virender Sehwag suffering from a loss of form, Karthik 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, helping India to 414, enough for a first innings lead of 41. In the second innings, he scored an unbeaten 38, as the team suffered a batting collapse and were all out for 169, allowing the hosts to take the series 2–1 by five wickets. In addition to his batting, his wicket-keeping was praised and brought former South African fast bowler Allan Donald to predict further success in the future.

Karthik then featured in the four-match ODI series against West Indies, and after not batting in the victory in the first match, he top-scored with 63 as a specialist batsman when India recovered from 35/3 to post 189 on a slow wicket at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. India went on to win by 20 runs, giving Karthik his first man of the match award. He was rewarded with continued selection for the subsequent series against Sri Lanka and the 2007 Cricket World Cup. However, Karthik faltered in the series against Sri Lanka, managing only 31, 4 not out and 1, leaving his position in jeopardy. In two warm-up matches in the West Indies before the start of the World Cup, Karthik scored 3 and 38 not out against The Netherlands and the West Indies.

Karthik did not play a match at the World Cup, and following India's unexpected exit from the first round, a group of players was dropped from the squad, including Sehwag. As a result, Karthik was selected as a specialist opener for the tour of Bangladesh, scoring 56 and 22 in the drawn First Test in Chittagong before scoring his maiden Test century in the Second Test in Dhaka, compiling 129 runs and featuring in a century opening stand as India took an innings victory. He completed his tour with 58* and six in the ODI series, playing in the middle order as India won both matches.

Prior to their tour of England, India played a series of ODIs in Ireland, against the hosts and South Africa. Karthik played in four matches, scoring 15 runs at 51.00 and keeping wicket in two of the matches.

Karthik established himself as a regular opener in the mid-2007 Test series in England. After scoring 76 and 51 in the two tour matches ahead of the Tests, he recorded a half century in each of the three Tests, regularly helping India to make solid starts. 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, helping to lay a top-order platform for India’s first innings of 481, which gave them a 283-run lead. He then scored 22 as they reached their target of 73 to take a winning series lead. In the Third Test at The Oval, Karthik scored 91 as India batted first and helped to lay the foundation for their total of 664 and a first-innings lead. This was enough to secure a 319-run first innings lead, and although India were unable to finish England off, it was enough to secure a 1–0 series win. With a total of 263 runs at 43.83, he was the highest scorer in the series for India, as the tourists won their first series in England for 21 years. He started the ODI series with an unbeaten 44 in the first ODI as India capitulated to 184 all out and a 104-run defeat, but thereafter had four consecutive innings where he failed to score more than four runs, and he was dropped for the final two matches.

Karthik was selected for the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa in September 2007, and played in India's earlier matches, scoring 11, 17, and a duck, before being dropped from the semi-final and final in favour of Rohit Sharma. India went on to win after starting the tournament as outsiders. Karthik kept his place in the Indian squad for the home ODI series against Australia but was on the outer after his decline in form in England, and played in only the final match in Mumbai, making a duck as India scraped home by two wickets.

After struggling in recent months in the limited overs format, Karthik bounced back during the Challenger Trophy at the start of the Indian domestic season. Playing for India Blue, he made a duck in the first match, but then made 65 against India Green and an unbeaten 116 in the final to guide his team through a successful run-chase against India Red. He then rounded off his preparation for the next Test series with consecutive fifties for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy.

Karthik had a lean Test series against Pakistan at home in late-2008. In the first two Tests, he managed only 39 in two innings, passing single figures only once. In the Third Test in Bangalore, Sachin Tendulkar was injured, and his replacement Yuvraj scored 170. Karthik, batting down the order with Gautam Gambhir taking his opening position, scored 24 and 52 in a high-scoring draw and kept wickets because of Dhoni's absence with 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 that were leaked were the second highest amount in Test history. India won the First Test and the other matches were drawn.

Karthik was retained for the Test tour of Australia as an opener, while Gambhir was ruled out after suffering an injury. However, he did not play in the first two Tests, because Dravid was elevated into his opening position so that both Tendulkar and Yuvraj could bat in the middle order. When Dravid and Yuvraj both struggled in their new positions, Dravid was moved back to his No. 3 position and Yuvraj dropped for the Third Test of the series, but instead, it was Sehwag—who had earned a late call-up as the reserve opener after Gambhir succumbed to injury—and not Karthik who was recalled. During the Test leg of the tour, Karthik played in only one non-first-class match against an Australian Capital Territory Invitation XI, scoring 25 and 97. Karthik was selected for the limited overs component of the Australian tour, but did not play in any of the ten ODIs. This meant that in almost three months on tour, Karthik only played in a two-day match and a Twenty20 match against Australia, in which he scored eight runs.