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Cricket Players'Dinesh Karthik won the game. Those aren't fond memories': South Africa legend recalls DK stealing the show for India
Dinesh Karthik has expressed his desire of wanting to win the World Cup for India. And if he is able to pull it off, what a comeback story it will be, completing the entire arc.
Dinesh Karthik may not be part of the ongoing ODI series between India and West Indies but the veteran wicketkeeper batter will return in time for the T20Is starting July 29. Karthik's batting graph has seen a surge since his redemption in IPL 2022, following which he was recalled into the Indian team and has delivered for the team in crunch situations. Karthik's resurgence has increased the headache for the BCCI selectors as they now are forced to decide between him, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson as India's wicketkeeping contenders for T20 World Cup in Australia.
Karthik has expressed his desire of wanting to win the World Cup for India. And if he is able to pull it off, what a comeback story it will be, completing the entire arc. Afterall, it was way back in the year 2006, that Karthik was part of India's first-ever T20I match against South Africa and played a helpful hand in winning the game for his side. Recalling Karthik's knock of 31 not out of 28 balls which guided India home, former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who was leading his team on the night of December 10 in Johannesburg, said there weren't any fond memories of the match for him courtesy DK's knock.
"I mean… Dinesh Karthik scoring runs and winning a game. Those aren't fond memories," Karthik said on Cricket.com's YouTube special 'Dressing Room Stories'.
In less than a year since India played their maiden T20 international, their tryst with destiny would be sealed. In September of 2007, India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa under MS Dhoni, which sparked a T20 revolution around the world. India's emphatic win paved the way for the introduction of the Indian Premier League, a tournament that would capture imaginations. Smith believes the IPL is what helped T20 cricket gain a global audience and allowed the format to reach the levels of popularity it attracts now.
"We were uncertain about how this format would go. In the beginning, we rested probably a lot of top players. It was a fun outing though. The energy in the crowd, the enjoyment that came with the game, straightaway you recognised that the fans just loved it. I think for all of us who were learning how to play, it was an opportunity to leather up and play without pressure, score as quick as you can. Who would have thought in 2006 that T20 cricket would get to the level it has to right now? In my mind, you couldn't have predicted that it would take off like it did. The IPL is a big reason for why T20 cricket has got to the level it has. It's just incredible," mentioned Smith.
