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Former Team India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik took a dig at ex-India coach Ravi Shastri, recalling the incident related to his last red-ball game in August 2018. Karthik made his comeback in India’s Test side after eight years with his appearance against Afghanistan in June 2018 after Wriddhiman Saha’s injury. He also was a part of Team India that toured England for five Tests. He got the opportunity to feature in India’s 11-member squad for the first two Tests but couldn’t be impactful with his bat. After witnessing his failure in the second Test at the iconic Lord’s, the team management dropped him and inducted Rishabh Pant in the playing XI for the remainder of the series.
Pant grabbed this opportunity with both hands and became a vital member of the side since then. Appearing on Sky Sports podcast after India’s massive win at Edgbaston, Karthik, sitting alongside Shastri accompanied by Nasser Hussain, and Michael Atherton, recalled the incident how his red-ball career concluded instantly following his underwhelming performance in the 2018 Lord’s Test.
“The first thing is, I feel there’s not much in common between me and Nasser Hussain, and I’d like to keep it that way. Sadly though, we both finished at Lord’s. But the only difference, he went to the coach’s room and said, ‘I think I’m done.’ In my case, the coach came to me and said, ‘Don’t bother coming for the next Test, I think you’re done',” remarked Karthik.
Dinesh Karthik’s Test career
Dinesh Karthik made his Test debut against Australia in November 2004 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. In his international career, he played 26 Tests and scored 1025 runs with a hundred and seven fifties in 42 innings at an average of 25.00. His only Test hundred came against Bangladesh in 2007.
In 2018, when he returned to India’s Test squad against England, he couldn’t be effective with his bat. The veteran racked up the figures of 0, 20, 1, and 0. His appearance in Lord’s Test turned out to be his last one in India whites.
