<p>Now, he’s a celebrity courtesy that stupendous strike off the 120th legal ball of the RCB innings that powered them to a two-wicket win over South Australian Redbacks. But then, Karthik could not have selected a better venue to play that shot.<br /><br />It was at this very same stadium that the 25-year old right-hander from Walajapet in Chennai showed first glimpses of his immense talent. He smashed a 189-ball 143 for Tamil Nadu against Karnataka on his Ranji Trophy debut in 2008, and became a pillar of strength for TN along with Abhinav Mukund, M Vijay and S Badrinath.<br /><br />Since then Karthik, who began his first-class career with a few List ‘A’ games for Badureliya Club in Sri Lanka, has been a permanent figure in the Tamil Nadu top-order, scoring heavy runs. In first-class cricket, he has so far scored 1232 runs from 22 matches at a healthy 41.06 with four hundreds and six fifties.<br /><br />But even for a player so obviously talented as Karthik, hitting a six off the last ball might have been a hard task. Virat Kohli admitted that it was a no-hope situation in the Royal Challengers camp with six needed from the last ball. “Honestly, I didn’t back him play that shot. We needed seven off two, and I told Ray Jennings: ‘Coach, if we get four off this ball, and two off the last ball, I think we’re going to make it’.<br /><br />“But when we got a single I just closed my eyes. And he ended up hitting a six. None of us can still believe that. We have to watch this match all over again to believe what we have done,” Kohli said.<br /><br />Karthik, who was bought from Chennai Super Kings before this year’s IPL, said he just kept a cool head. “I just kept it simple, I waited for it to arrive. I knew it was going to be a slower ball, so I waited and then gave it my all.”<br /><br />The full-hearted effort paid off. Now, Karthik will no longer be a support cast. </p>
<p>Now, he’s a celebrity courtesy that stupendous strike off the 120th legal ball of the RCB innings that powered them to a two-wicket win over South Australian Redbacks. But then, Karthik could not have selected a better venue to play that shot.<br /><br />It was at this very same stadium that the 25-year old right-hander from Walajapet in Chennai showed first glimpses of his immense talent. He smashed a 189-ball 143 for Tamil Nadu against Karnataka on his Ranji Trophy debut in 2008, and became a pillar of strength for TN along with Abhinav Mukund, M Vijay and S Badrinath.<br /><br />Since then Karthik, who began his first-class career with a few List ‘A’ games for Badureliya Club in Sri Lanka, has been a permanent figure in the Tamil Nadu top-order, scoring heavy runs. In first-class cricket, he has so far scored 1232 runs from 22 matches at a healthy 41.06 with four hundreds and six fifties.<br /><br />But even for a player so obviously talented as Karthik, hitting a six off the last ball might have been a hard task. Virat Kohli admitted that it was a no-hope situation in the Royal Challengers camp with six needed from the last ball. “Honestly, I didn’t back him play that shot. We needed seven off two, and I told Ray Jennings: ‘Coach, if we get four off this ball, and two off the last ball, I think we’re going to make it’.<br /><br />“But when we got a single I just closed my eyes. And he ended up hitting a six. None of us can still believe that. We have to watch this match all over again to believe what we have done,” Kohli said.<br /><br />Karthik, who was bought from Chennai Super Kings before this year’s IPL, said he just kept a cool head. “I just kept it simple, I waited for it to arrive. I knew it was going to be a slower ball, so I waited and then gave it my all.”<br /><br />The full-hearted effort paid off. Now, Karthik will no longer be a support cast. </p>
