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'When I returned Dhoni mania was so big they had to pick him. People stood up and said...': Karthik recalls competition
During the start of this century, India selectors auditioned quite a few wicketkeeping options before finding the perfect one, MS Dhoni. And with him "doing no wrong" during his illustrious career, it diminished the chances of other options. Dinesh Karthik, who recalled his competition with Dhoni on the RCB podcast, was one of them.
Team India are now blessed with a handful of able wicketkeeper-batter options in Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson, who equally capable of being part of the India XI hence creating a healthy competition. But there once was a period, towards the start of the this century, when India struggled to find a wicketkeeping option, who could also fit in as a batter, like Adam Gilchrist was for Australia. The selectors auditioned quite a few options before finding the perfect one, MS Dhoni. And with him "doing no wrong" during his illustrious career, it diminished the chances of other options. Dinesh Karthik, who recalled his competition with Dhoni on the RCB podcast, was one of them.
Karthik had made his India debut three months before Dhoni after his impressive show in the India A tour where the latter was present as well. He made his maiden appearance in ODIs in September 2004 and then in Tests in November that year. Dhoni was picked a month later. And despite a poor start, he scored a thundering 148 against Pakistan in the next series and then there was no looking back.
Karthik recalled that by the team his opportunity arrived the magic of Dhoni as so big that he had become a brand with fans hailing him as “special player.”
“I made my debut before him. We went together on an India A tour and from there I got picked to the Indian team. That was the first time I played a match together with him. I did so well that they picked me for the Indian team. From there, they went on another trip, there was a ODI tournament where he just blasted it there with boundaries and sixes. The world was still getting used to something like that, it was that sort of thing. People stood up and said there is nobody like him. They said he's a special player. Obviously I came to the Indian team, but by then the Dhoni mania was so big that you had to pick him. He then replaced me in all formats and he did very well. At the end of the day, it is all about taking opportunities,” he said.
When asked whether it was difficult to accept being the second-choice wicketkeeper for India, Karthik said that he remained on the hunt for an opportunity and hence was always geared up, having played lot of domestic cricket.
“I was chasing excellence. I was constantly on the path of becoming the best batter in the world. Dhoni was there, he wasn't there - that wasn't my lookout. He was doing very well for himself. I knew that he had settled in all team. And he made no mistake. They sent him up an order, he got a hundred in ODI. He then went to Test cricket and scored 85. He kept brilliantly. Most importantly, he became a brand overnight. People were after him. He was huge right from the outset. I remained the under study but I was always on the lookout for opportunities,” he said.
