The Royal’s Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, opened up on the story of how he convinced the former Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik to play in the upcoming season of the SA20 league. The latter retired from the Indian Premier League (IPL) last season, playing his farewell game for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
The Tamil Nadu-born, who was named as the brand ambassador for the tournament, is going to play for the Paarl Royals in the 2025 season. With BCCI allowing their retired player to participate in various T20 leagues, many players have flown out to different places to be part of different leagues.
The former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been quite satisfied with the inclusion of the veteran, who has featured in 401 games in the 20-over format, managing 7407 runs at an average of 27.13 and a strike rate of nearly 137, celebrating 34 half-centuries.
“Easy choice to ensure that DK comes to us”- Kumar Sangakkara
The former India batter has also been part of 257 IPL games, where he has notched up 4842 runs at an average of 26.32 and a strike rate of 135.36, with the help of 22 half-centuries, having a best score of 97 runs. He was excellent in the last two seasons for Bengaluru in scoring quickfire runs, coming at the lower order.
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“Dinesh has served as one of the modern-day greats for India in white ball cricket, and his wealth of experience will contribute to the making of our side for Season 3. He has always proved to be a great asset for the teams he’s represented across leagues.” Kumar Sangakkara expressed on their new signing.
The head coach of the Rajasthan Royals also noted that it would have been unfair of him to force DK to play for their team, using the friendship both these veterans share.
“It’s very unfair on DK if I had pressurized him on friendship because it’s a professional sport and you have to go where you are valued not just in terms of your ability and skill and personality but also in terms of the financials.” Kumar Sangakkara remarked while interacting with the social media handle of Paarl Royals.
The former left-handed batter also felt it wasn’t a tough decision to go with such an experience that Karthik carries, as the latter has a great passion for the game undoubtedly.
“I know DK well. He has got a great passion for the game as we saw in the last season (of IPL), he was phenomenal. On his retirement and his appetite to play overseas leagues, it was a very easy choice to try and ensure that he comes to us.” Kumar Sangakkara noted.
In his last IPL season, the 39-year-old batter nailed 326 runs in 13 innings, at a strike rate of nearly 190, with an average of 36.22, besides recording a couple of fifties thanks to his best score of 83 runs.
The T20 world-winning member for the Sri Lanka side was delighted to have DK on board as he reckoned that in the absence of their Jos Buttler for the next season, the Indian gloveman would be an ideal fit in the franchise.
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“I think he’ll fit in very well with the Paarl Royals and the Royals’ philosophies. We are very excited to have him on board, he’ll enjoy playing with us in that location in Paarl but also the tournament itself.” Kumar Sangakkara concluded the conversation. “Very happy he took the time to consider our offer and was very open and honest with me and the franchise so it was great we were able to sign him.”
Paarl Royals made the playoffs in both of the first two seasons but failed to reach the final of the event on both occasions.