It was in 2006 that a young Dinesh Karthik won 'Player of the Match' award for his cheeky 30-odd in India's first ever T20I. Sixteen years hence, Karthik, nearing 37, with 330 shortest format matches under his belt, is showing signs of being another eternal comeback man of Indian cricket, trying to do justice to the phenomenal talent that he is blessed with.
"I made a conscious effort to do justice to myself. Felt I could have done better in the last few years," said Karthik, whose 44 off 23 balls, took RCB to victory over Rajasthan Royals in an IPL game.
Karthik, who has always been in demand during every edition of IPL, hasn't been selected for India after their heartbreaking semi-final loss against New Zealand in the 2019 ODI World Cup.
His form for KKR nose-dived a bit in the past two years and 18 years after his India debut, Karthik knows very well that a 8-ball-29 in a Nidahas Trophy can't be his singular legacy when he calls it quits.
So how has it been different and the Tamil Nadu stumper, who literally dashed Ravichandran Ashwin's dreams of T20I comeback, hammering him into submission, said that he has changed his training methods. "The way I have trained has been different. I was telling myself I am not done yet. I have a goal and I want to achieve something," Karthik said after the game.
When he came in, RCB needed 12 runs per over and Karthik launched into his statemate Ashwin with one boundary behind square, followed by six over long-on and a rocket-like-shot over mid-off and finally added insult to injury with a reverse sweep.
"We needed 12 runs an over, so you need to figure out what to do. Stay calm, know your game and who you can take on." A career strike rate of 134 and average of 27.58 doesn't do justice to the kind of ability he has had. He knows that there aren't too many years of cricket left in him and he is trying to maximise his utility. He doesn't play red ball cricket anymore and knows it is T20 which will remain his calling during the business end of his career.