Dinesh Karthik is probably an apt example of a player born in the wrong era. He never got the chance to cement his place in the national team despite performing consistently with the bat as well as gloves in domestic cricket. After Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement from Tests, Wriddhiman Saha took the role behind stumps. Any chance of Karthik making a comeback to the team was looking extremely bleak but an opportunity came when Saha got injured before the third Test against England.
With experience and form on his side, he would have thought of getting another shot in the national team. However, the Indian team preferred wicketkeeping skill ahead of batting form and selected Parthiv Patel instead. At least, that’s what India head coach Anil Kumble hinted during his press conference on Thursday.
Kumble said:“Regarding Dinesh, at the moment, I don’t think he is keeping wickets for Tamil Nadu and I am not sure why that is the case.But, at the moment, from what I gather he is not keeping wickets.”
Well, the Indian coach was right as the Tamil Nadu player did not keep the wickets against Madhya Pradesh at Cuttack last month due to the injury. As expected, Karthik, who has scored 574 runs at an average of over 63 so far in Ranji Trophy, expressed his disappointment after being overlooked.
Speaking to The Times of India, Karthik said:“It’s a setback and I’m disappointed.The injury came at the wrong time. I suffered a finger injury during the first match against Mumbai.
“It was a hairline fracture in the middle finger on the right hand and yet I decided to keep wickets in the next two matches. It got worse and I was advised not to keep wickets as any further damage would mean the end of my season.
The wicketkeeper-batsman revealed he even worked with former Indian glovesman Sameer Dighe.
“I feel terribly bad as I have worked hard on my keeping skills. Ahead of the season, I worked with former India keeper Sameer Dighe on my glove work,” he said.
“Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Kapoor (captain and coach of India Blue side in Duleep Trophy) can certainly talk about the improvement I have made as a keeper,” he added.
However, the latest setback has not hampered his will of making a comeback to the team.
He said: “Though I’m a bit upset, I now know that I’m in contention.
“I will be fit for the next game against Gujarat as a keeper. I have given my best in batting and I’m confident of doing well with the gloves as well. Keeping is a lot like umpiring, the misses are remembered most.
“I have genuinely improved as a keeper and I’m itching to wear them back. As I said about two months back, I still have the burning desire to play for India again,” he concluded.