T20 World Cup 2022: From commentary to World Cup, the 'Dinesh Karthik' story

Dinesh Karthik might have made his debut for Team India in September 2004 but his big dream finally came true 18 years later.

From being man of the match in India's first-ever T20I back in 2006 to being selected for the T20 World Cup 2022 squad in Australia, life has come full circle for DK.

'Dreams do come true', tweeted Karthik soon after he was picked for India's T20 World Cup 2022 side on Monday.

From being in and out of the international side to being never looked upon as a first-choice keeper for the national side ever since MS Dhoni made his international debut just 3 months after DK made it to Team India, it has been a roller coaster ride for the 37-year-old.

The man from Tamil Nadu never stopped believing. DK often reiterated his intentions of playing in the World T20 as he believed that he could be that finisher India badly needed.

With Dhoni retired and Rishabh Pant not justifying his place in the T20I set-up, the selectors once again looked at Dinesh Karthik. But it didn't happen out of the blue.

DK learnt the tricks of the trade in commentary and was an instant hit. But it wasn't something he wanted to do full-time. KKR let go of DK ahead of the IPL mega auction last year and he was roped in by RCB which proved to be the turning point in his career.

Karthik smashed 330 runs at a whopping strike rate of over 180 IPL 2022 and bailed Bangalore out of trouble more often than not as a finisher. His efforts didn't go unnoticed as DK became a regular in India's T20 set-up.

He batted at number 7 for India 6 times in T20I in 2022 and averages 34. His strike rate of over 130 in that position is also impressive.

DK would be eager to prove his mettle in the T20 World Cup but no matter what happens then, it will go down in Indian cricket history as the mother of all comebacks.

Also read: T20 World Cup 2022: India's 15-member squad announced, Bumrah returns but Shami on standby