Dinesh Karthik: The Ultimate Story Of Perseverance And Determination

"Dreams do come true," tweeted wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik on Monday, shortly after he was named in India's T20 World Cup squad, and rightly so. Leave aside the T20 World Cup squad, if someone would have said in 2021 that Dinesh Karthik would be making a comeback to the national side, no one would have probably believed that. But it is a testament to Karthik's perseverance, determination, and grit that the 37-year-old veteran has managed to get his name in the India squad that will fly down to Australia to try and win the T20 World Cup for the second time.

It is important to note that Karthik was doing commentary in the UK last year during the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton. Now, it is not common for a cricketer who still harbours the dream of playing for the country, to do broadcast duties so it is no surprise that fans expected Dinesh Karthik to call time on his career.

However, in several sets of interviews earlier this year, the right-handed batter made it clear that he is still harbouring the dream of playing for the country, and doing the commentary was just a one-off thing for the time being.

Karthik, who had previously led Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL), was not retained by the franchise ahead of the mega auction this year. So, the biggest challenge for him was to get a franchise and have that role clarity that will help him get noticed by the national selectors. Then, he found the right match in Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The right-handed batter was given the role of a finisher by the franchise and he had that role clarity from the start. And what followed was a dream run in the premier T20 league in the world as he