Dinesh Karthik was always a more natural wicketkeeper-batsman than MS Dhoni: Tatenda Taibu

MS Dhoni is one of the best wicketkeeper-batsman who has played the game. In terms of runs as a wicketkeeper-batsman, he stands only second to Kumar Sangakkara. Since making his debut in 2004, Dhoni has kept his place in the Indian side until now. He has never been dropped or never been out of form. Moreover, he has had so much success as the captain as well.

Because of his dominance at the world stage, during his illustrious career, no other wicketkeeper could stamp their authority in the Indian setup. One of them was Dinesh Karthik. Karthik made his debut for India before Dhoni, but his lack of consistent scores meant he kept getting dropped from the national side. Interestingly, both the players haven’t played any international match after India’s semi-final loss in the 2019 World Cup.

‘Karthik was more natural’ – Tatenda Taibu

In a recent interaction, former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu talked about the differences between Karthik and Dhoni. Taibu, who himself was a wicketkeeper, played during the time the two Indian keepers started off. He said that Karthik was a more natural wicketkeeper-batsman than Dhoni.

“The first time I saw Dhoni if I’m to be honest…he had come with the India A side. I thought Karthik was more natural than Dhoni. And still, in keeping, he is more natural…even in batting he is more natural,” the former Zimbabwe keeper said on Fan Play-Sports Ruler ‘Inside Out With Baggs’ on YouTube.

He then talked about MSD’s style of keeping and how it is different than usual. He credited Dhoni’s batting and keeping styles as very different. But the Zimbabwean also credited Dhoni’s stats as a keeper and batsman.

“Now, the way he (MSD) keeps, his hands are not always together like you always have the little fingers together… when he catches his hands are always not like that. But he always manages to catch the ball and whip the bails in a flash with a very different technique…very different and odd technique,” he added.

“Same thing about his batting…different technique. But great hand-eye co-ordination. But I don’t think it’s only his hand-eye coordination but probably his mental toughness. Normally if you don’t look the part, so to speak, it’s easy for coaches to just put you aside. But Dhoni backs that up with statistics,” he went on to add.

Dhoni has played 350 ODIs and 90 Tests. He has also played close to a hundred T20Is. On the other hand, Karthik has played 26 Tests, 94 ODIs, and 32 T20Is.