Dinesh Karthik On MS Dhoni And IPL:
At the beginning of the Indian Premier League in 2008, some of the most famous names were supposed to go to their respective state’s franchises. The same thing happened to a large extent with Sourav Ganguly who was roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders, Sachin Tendulkar by Mumbai Indians, Virender Sehwag by Delhi Daredevils, but there were instances where this homecoming did not happen. One of them was wicket-keeper, Dinesh Karthik, who saw Ranchi born MS Dhoni being picked ahead of him by Chennai Super Kings despite him being from Tamil Nadu.
Karthik was probably Tamil Nadu’s biggest name in 2008 when it came to the shorter formats, the veteran wicket-keeper admitted that his concern at that time was whether or not he would be named franchise captain, instead of whether CSK was going to take him at the auction, or not.
“In 2008, I was in Australia and the auction was going on. In the lead up to that, I was convinced that the biggest name of Tamil Nadu, who is also playing for the country … I’m sure they (Chennai Super Kings) are going to pick me up. The question is whether or not they’re going to make me a captain … that’s going on in my head. And they selected Dhoni for 1.5 million, and he was sitting right around the corner with me. And he didn’t even tell me they were going to pick him, “he said.
Karthik has confessed to have been waiting for a bid from CSK for his services since the first auction in 2008. Having played for Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Lions, and Kolkata Knight Riders so far, Tamil Nadu born is still waiting to wear his home team’s yellow jersey.
“He probably didn’t know. But it was the biggest dagger to my heart, and I thought that they would pick me later, It’s been 13 years now and I am still waiting for that call from CSK,” he said.
