“Great if I can play for CSK”: Dinesh Karthik looking for IPL homecoming at Chennai Super Kings under MS Dhoni

Dinesh Karthik looking for IPL homecoming: The veteran Indian wicket-keeper batter will yet again enter an IPL auction.

Veteran India wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik is all in readiness of entering his eighth Indian Premier League auction. Karthik, 36, is an absolute IPL stalwart having played for six teams across 14 seasons.

Karthik, whose 213 IPL matches are only less than Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (220), has scored 4,046 runs at an average and strike rate of 25.77 and 129.72 respectively to be the 11th-highest run-scorer in the tournament.

Karthik, who has represented Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals, twice), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, might well be playing for his seventh franchise in the upcoming 15th season of the IPL.

Moments which make IPL fun 😉 @SDhawan25 https://t.co/Uq3ve00Poa

— DK (@DineshKarthik) February 3, 2022

Dinesh Karthik looking for IPL homecoming at CSK

Speaking in an interview with PTI, Karthik expressed ambitions of a homecoming in the biggest T20 competition. Karthik, who plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket, has never played for Super Kings in the IPL.

“Look, it’s great if I can play for CSK. I’m from Chennai. But at the end of the day, what’s important for me is whichever team that I get to play in, it will be an absolute honour because as I said, all this practice that I’ve been doing these days is to try and do well in a tournament like the IPL,” Karthik was quoted as saying by PTI recently.

Assuming that Chennai bid for Karthik in IPL 2022 auction, their middle-order will comprise of two most experienced IPL wicket-keeper batters. Karthik, who has played 37 international matches across formats under Dhoni and 94 with him in the Playing XI, would form an interesting pair with him in the IPL.

Having last played competitive cricket in the form of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22 in December, Karthik was the eighth-highest run-scorer on the back of scoring 376 runs at an average and strike rate of 53.71 and 98.68 respectively with the help of a century (against Himachal Pradesh in the final match) and two half-centuries.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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