I just couldn't do ordinary stuff when MS Dhoni was around: Dinesh Karthik

Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik is one of the many wicketkeeper-batsmen tried by the selectors in the Ganguly era before the arrival of the veteran MS Dhoni on the side. The spectacular records in the domestic circuit earned the Tamil Nadu Stalwart an international ODI debut for India in 2004 at the age of 19. He later made his debut in the longest format of the game in the same year against Australia.

However, a series of low scores means that Karthik was axed from the role and the selectors decided to summon Dhoni into the national squad. After the emergence of MS Dhoni in the international circuit as a potential wicketkeeper, Dinesh Karthik hardly got any chances. Though he was included as a pure batsman in the squad for a few matches, the right-hander failed to make it big and impress the selectors.

With more exposure and training, Karthik performed admirably behind the stumps as well as with the bat but could never find a permanent spot in the playing XI. In his International career of 16 years, the 35-year-old has represented India in 26 Test matches, 94 ODIs, and 32 T20 Internationals garnering 1025, 1752, and 399 runs respectively.

Dinesh Karthik talks about being in the same cricket era as MS Dhoni

Reflecting on his international career, Karthik reckoned that things have never been easy for him as he was under the constant pressure of performing better than Dhoni to secure a spot in the squad. He couldn’t get away with doing something ordinary as there was an enigma named Dhoni around.

“I think throughout my career there’s one thing that’s for sure – it was the fact that there was a lot of pressure whenever I played games. Just the fact that I had to be a part of the side I had to be something, it had to be something special. I just couldn’t do ordinary stuff and be a part of the side because there was an enigma named MS Dhoni around,” said Karthik while speaking with Saurav Ghosal on ‘Finish Line’.

Speaking further, the 35-year-old said that there were times when he was able to do something extraordinary and make the best use of the opportunities provided to him. But there were also moments when he failed and with time he realized that life is never going to be the same and one has to constantly work harder.

“So, when you have a player like that around, you have to seize the moments with something special. At times I seized it and at times I did not hence life is not always going to be a bed of roses, at times as an individual you do have to run the tough race as well,” he added.