Dinesh Karthik - India's unnoticed T20I gem

In the short history of T20 internationals, India have had a few wicketkeeper-batters - namely MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel, Sanju Samson, and Rishabh Pant. India have also used opener KL Rahul as a makeshift keeper in a couple of games.

When it comes to wicketkeeper-batters in India, one generally tends to idolize MS Dhoni as the greatest for his finishing skills. However, fans will be surprised to learn that the stats speak otherwise in the shortest format of the game.

Dinesh Karthik, despite always being an in-out kind of player in the Indian setup, has extremely impressive stats and impactful knocks on his profile. This allows him to have a fair share of a claim to the throne of India's greatest ever wicket-keeper batter in T20 internationals.

Among the designated wicket-keeper batters, only MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik have played a decent number of games (criteria: minimum 15 innings). Let us take a look at their T20I batting statistics below-

Player	Matches	Innings	Not Out	Runs	Highest	Average	Balls Faced	Strike Rate	100	50	4s	6s	MOM Award
MS Dhoni	98	85	42	1617	56	37.60	1282	126.13	0	2	116	52	0
Rishabh Pant	48	42	10	741	65	23.16	596	124.12	0	3	55	31	1
Dinesh Karthik	37	30	16	491	55	35.07	336	146.13	0	1	53	19	3

In this column, let us take a look at the three instances when Dinesh Karthik was awarded the Man of the Match for his brilliance with the bat.

#3 India v South Africa Only T20I - December 1, 2006

India were touring South Africa for five ODIs followed by a one-off T20I, which was supposed to be their first-ever in this newly introduced format before heading into the highly-anticipated three-match Test series.

India faced a drubbing at the hands of the Proteas in the ODI series by a 4-0 margin where the first game was abandoned due to rain. On the back of such a disheartening series loss, where nothing seemed to go right for them, India were supposed to play an alien format with a side that had no prior experience playing that particular format.

To add to that, India didn't even have any domestic T20 competition unlike the South Africans who have had their T20 challenge domestic competition since 2003-04. This meant that the Indians had no sort of experience at any level in this format, while the South Africans were well acquainted with the dynamics of this particular format.

On a green top at the Wanderers, Graeme Smith opted to bat first after winning the toss against Virender Sehwag. The South African batters set up a total of 126-9 in their scheduled 20 overs. India were in a spot of bother at one point in time but Dinesh Karthik's 31(28)* ensured India went over the line with one delivery and six wickets to spare.

Dinesh Karthik (in action) while playing a shot against South Africa in India's maiden T20I in 2006.

#2 India v Bangladesh, Nidahas Trophy Final, March 18, 2018

India led by Rohit Sharma, were playing the Nidahas Trophy, a tournament held by Sri Lanka to celebrate the independence of their nation. The tournament comprised Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as the other two participating nations.

India and Bangladesh made it to the final of the tournament where Bangladesh set up a total of 166-8 in their designated 20 overs at the R. Premadasa Stadium. The game seemed to be slipping away from India as they were 133-5 after 18 overs with another 34 runs needed to win in the last two overs.

This was exactly when Dinesh Karthik walked out to bat. He struck a majestic 29(8)* to seal the game for India with a last-ball six when India needed five runs to win.

He also became the joint-record holder to win the Man of the Match for batting by facing the least number of deliveries alongside Brad Hodge, who won it for his 21(8)* in a seven-over rain-curtailed affair against South Africa in 2014.

#1 India v South Africa, 4th T20I - June 17, 2022

India desperately needed a win as they were trailing the five-match home series against South Africa by 2-1 going into the fourth T20I which was to be held at the SCA Stadium.

The Indian side led by Rishabh Pant, got off to a poor start. By the end of the 15th over, India were found to be reeling at 96-4. It seemed like India would end up with a below-par total but Dinesh Karthik had other ideas.

He appeared to be batting on some other track as he scored an aggressive 55(27). With some assistance from Hardik Pandya's 46(31), India were able to gather 73 runs in the last five overs to end up at a promising 169-6 on a not-so-friendly track for the batters.

Indian bowlers came out pumped up with the momentum behind them and ran through South Africa's batting order to bowl them out for a paltry 87 in 16.5 overs.

Dinesh Karthik (37 years and 16 days) also became the oldest Indian to score a half-century in T20Is surpassing MS Dhoni (36 years, 229 days).