Five things to know about Dinesh Karthik on his birthday

Dinesh Karthik turns 32 years old today on June 1 He has lived under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s shadow, often being overlooked for his fellow wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik won the man of the match on India's first international T20 game

Dinesh Karthik turns 32 years old today. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been a part of the Indian cricket team for a long time. However, he has lived under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s shadow, often being overlooked for his fellow wicketkeeper-batsman. He is India’s ‘replacement’ man, who comes in when one of the players have been ruled out for a series. He gained a spot in the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy when Manish Pandey was ruled out due to injury. But Dinesh Karthik is not one to be taken lightly has showcased his batting prowess and skills with the gloves whenever the team needed him. He Here is five interesting facts about the man.

1)    India’s first Man of the Match

India’s first ever T20 international match was against South Africa back on Dec 1, 2006. And India had won the game. India had restricted South Africa to 126 in the twenty overs. With South African bowlers keeping the Indian batsmen in check it fell on Dinesh Karthik to see his team through. Batting at number five Karthik scored the winning runs on the fifth ball of the last over. He was awarded the man of the match award for his important innings.

2)    High IPL price

Dinesh Karthik was bought at a whopping Rs 12.5 crore by the Delhi Daredevils in the 2014 auction and for Rs 10.5 crore by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2015 auction. Karthik was the second-highest paid player in IPL 2014 and 2015 behind Yuvraj Singh.

3)    Training at home

Dinesh Karthik’s father Krishna Kumar played first class domestic cricket in his youth. However, he was forced towards studies by his parents. But he did not let that happen with Dinesh. Dinesh Karthik became a better batsman and keeper by having his father throw hard leather balls at him at high speeds.

4)    Brilliant International debut

Dinesh Karthik made his international ODI debut for India in 2004 against England. Although he dropped a catch of Michael Vaughan, he made up for it when he executed a blinding leg-side stumping. People started taking note of his athleticism.

5)    Comeback

He made a comeback to the Indian side in 2006 after Dhoni was rested, and later earned a spot as a pure batsman following the poor batting form of some of the other Indian players. He established himself as a gutsy player with the gumption for fighting it out, with three half-centuries on India's tour of England in 2007.