The used to call him the ‘special one’ in Middlesex, for whom he was the stand-out performer in the English County Championship this summer. Indian cricket has never treated him as a special one, but Murali Kartik has, unexpectedly to many, been given another opportunity to resurrect a stop-start international career.

Friday was a bitter-sweet day for the 31-year-old. In his temporary role as television cricket analyst, he was watching his India colleagues coming under serious Aussie fire, when his phone rang and he was asked to join the squad for the fourth and fifth one-dayers against the World champions in Chandigarh (Monday) and Vadodara (Thursday).

The summons was a pleasant little jolt. “It wasn’t that I had given up hope of playing for the country, but I didn’t expect a call-up at this stage,” Kartik told Deccan Herald on Saturday afternoon. After all, the left-arm spinner’s name hasn’t done the rounds since he went out of reckoning with a shoulder injury that necessitated surgery in March 2006.

Kartik gradually made his way back to competitive cricket, playing for Lancashire towards the end of last season, then coming back home and acquitting himself well in the Challenger Series as well as the Ranji and Deodhar Trophies. Unlike a few others who walked right back into the side upon proving a return to complete fitness, the Railways tweaker continued to be overlooked.

He wasn’t in the list of 30 probables for the World Cup in the Caribbean in March-April, or for last month’s Twenty20 World Cup. His name also didn’t figure in the list of players awarded contracts with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It was almost as if he was the forgotten man.

Learning to adjust
“In the past, when I used to be dropped from the team or not considered for selection, I used to get very frustrated and upset. Gradually, I have learnt to cope with it. I have realised that there is only so much in your hands, and so much more out of your control,” Kartik rationalised. “I guess as I have grown older, I have become more mature too.

“I also understood that irrespective of who you play for, you must enjoy your cricket. If you keep thinking of only playing for the country, it will take your focus away from your immediate goal. You essentially play the sport because you love it, and you enjoy playing it. At the same time, not for once did I not feel that my time had come and gone.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is of the opinion that Kartik is a valuable addition. “We feel a good left-arm spinner will have a role to play in Indian conditions,” the captain said. “And he is one of the experienced guys, too.”

Kartik’s one-day record is modest -- 27 wickets from 30 games -- but he has hardly played more than five games at a stretch. He has, however, had greater success in Test cricket, including the man of the match award for spinning India to an incredible win against the Aussies in Mumbai in November 2004.

“If you haven’t done well in international cricket, it is possible that you might start to have self-doubts,” he offered. “But I had had some success at the highest level, and I never lost the hunger or the desire to play for India again.”

Snapped up by Middlesex for a whole season, Kartik was voted the County’s Player of the Year after topping the wicket-taking charts in first-class (51 from 12 games) and Twenty20 (nine from six) cricket and finishing second (21 from 15) in one-day cricket. It is no surprise that Middlesex have signed him for next season too, when each County is allowed only one overseas pro.

“I think it is an acknowledgement of the fact that Indians are also good professionals,” he said of having already played three seasons for two different Counties, with a fourth lined up for next year. 

Does he feel the pressure to perform on his return to the national side after 20 months away? “Whether I play club cricket or for India, there are always butterflies in the stomach, which is good. But I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself or allow my concentration to waver. I will try and stay relaxed, and focus on my job, which is to bowl well for the team.”