I didn't lose my place to a normal cricketer, it was MS Dhoni: Dinesh Karthik at his candid best

Earlier, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik had to contend with a certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a place in the Test side. Later, Wriddhiman Saha stole the place, pushing the likes of Karthik, Parthiv Patel and other glovemen to the rigours of domestic cricket.

Now, with Saha out with thumb injury sustained during the IPL, Karthik gets another opportunity to prove himself in Test colours. The 33-year-old did not look at his comeback after eight years as a “second wind” or a “comeback of sorts”. “It feels very good to wear the whites again,” Karthik said here on Tuesday.

Karthik has pipped Patel to the Test wicketkeeping slot after Saha’s injury. It was Patel, who went to South Africa earlier in the year as a second wicket-keeper and even played in Johannesburg after the regular gloveman Saha suffered a hamstring. It was Patel who was the preferred keeper when Saha pulled out with thigh strain against England in 2016.

Patel, though, was feeling insecure as Karthik was called in as a replacement and reached South Africa early prior to the limited-overs leg. Now, with his IPL performances and current form, Karthik has got the nod ahead of Patel.
Karthik frankly admitted that he “did not perform well enough” in the 23 Tests that he has played from 2004 to 2010.

“I wasn't consistent enough. There was a highly competitive environment. MS Dhoni was breathing down my neck, who was causing a lot of stir in Test cricket at that point of time. He has gone on to become probably one of the greatest Test cricket captains India has ever produced. So, it's not that I lost out my place to some normal cricketer. He has been a special cricketer over a period of time and I respect him for that. It was just the fact that I couldn't at that stage produce enough performances to hold on to my place. I think I need to be honest with myself. I think I wasn't as good then. I have another opportunity now and I guess I will try to do my best,” Karthik admitted.

Asked what he had to do now to keep Saha out for a longer time, Karthik said: “I think if you go deep into that question and figure out what I can do to keep someone out, then you’re taking energy away from the fact that you’re competing with somebody. That puts a little bit of extra pressure than what is already there.

“What I’m looking to do, as clichéd as it sounds, is be the best cricketer I can be, not only on the field but off the field. I’m trying to be consistent there, where even if I don’t get the opportunity, even if I don’t end up playing at the highest level, I want to be content with the fact that I’ve given it everything. They keep saying ‘do your processes, and things will follow’, so I’m just doing what I think is right. If I now go and try to think about how I can keep my place and keep someone else out, it becomes very subjective, I need to score, here, there. I don’t want to keep it that way. I just want to make the best of the opportunities I get.”

Having matured as a cricketer, and as a person, over the years, Karthik did not buy in to the theory that Afghanistan spinners were stronger than India. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain explained: “We have a lot of experience. Not only Test match cricket but also domestic cricket. Clearly, all their spinners put together would not have played as many matches as say a Kuldeep Yadav would have played in four-day cricket.

"At the end of the day, experience has a lot of value. We saw that with Chennai Super Kings in IPL. Experience pays. I'm sure in time they will be even better bowlers than when they start off. But I would definitely say our spinners have a lot of experience and experience is not something that can be easily bought.”

Did you know

When Dinesh Karthik takes the field on Thursday, he would be playing in a Test after a gap of 87 matches – the most missed by an Indian. Parthiv Patel missed 83 Tests, a record that will be broken by Karthik.