Dinesh Karthik reckons he didn’t lose his place to a ‘normal’ player

Dinesh Karthik’s career has been a roller coaster ride ever since he made his debut in 2004 against England. There has always been cut-throat competition in the wicket-keeping department. He was impressive but wasn’t consistent enough to stay put in his position in the national team. In the same year, a certain player by the name of MS Dhoni made his debut as well against Bangladesh.

Karthik lost his place and Dhoni, owing to his charismatic style of play cemented his potion in the team. Albeit Karthik kept playing ODI cricket, he had to wait for 8 years before he could make a comeback to the Test squad. India are scheduled to play Afghanistan from Thursday and he will take the field most certainly. The cricketer recently brought forth Dhoni’s caliber as a reason behind his exclusion.

“He has been a special cricketer”- Karthik

“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,” Karthik was quoted as saying by DNA.

Dhoni has been one of the most iconic personalities in the cricket world. He has been a recipient of brickbats throughout his career, but he always let his willow do all the talking and shut down his critics. He is 36-years old and hasn’t run out of gas by any means. He played in the IPL and came on to his own. The swashbuckling version of Dhoni was back and he pummeled bowling attacks with sheer disdain.

“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,” the wicketkeeper-batsman continued his praises for the veteran.

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