How a successful commentary stint fuelled Dinesh Karthik's resurgence

So driven is he to play for the country again that he would often shuttle between Bengaluru and Mumbai for training

When Virat Kohli described Dinesh Karthik as the "man of the IPL for me", he may well have been speaking for many others. Karthik has put on such a show with the bat that the likes of Kohli and Sunil Gavaskar have backed his bid for an India return in the T20I format.

With scores of 32 n.o., 14 n.o., 44 n.o., 7 n.o., 34 and 66 n.o. for a cumulative total of 197 runs, Karthik is a top run-getter for Royal Challengers Bangalore. While there are 12 other batsmen ahead of the right-hander on the batting charts (all numbers before RCB’s match against Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday), he is 10th in the Most Valuable Players' list, according to iplt20.com. Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone are the only other batsmen in a list which otherwise is dominated by bowlers and all-rounders.

While the quantum of runs Karthik has scored isn’t insignificant, the manner in which he has gathered them is the reason why he has been the talk of the town. Dismissed only once in six innings, Karthik's runs have come at an average of 197 per innings and a mind-numbing strike-rate of 209.57 per 100 balls. Though Karthik's ability to turn matches on their head is well known, the consistency he has shown in this IPL has been refreshing. His ability to manufacture shots, find angles and almost force the bowlers to feed his strengths have reminded RCB fans of their former maverick, AB de Villiers.

Also Read | Karthik can play finisher's role for India in T20 World Cup: Gavaskar

"The last time I saw him before the IPL, he was commentating in the UK," said de Villiers, after watching Karthik's batting this season. "He wasn't playing a lot of domestic cricket and I thought he is possibly at the end of his career. But he surprised us all, I think, with intent and energy.”

It's, in fact, this impression among fans and other cricketers that fuelled Karthik's resurgence. After he came back from the UK following a successful commentary stint, there was a general feeling that he was done with his playing career.

"That's when he kept repeating one thing – 'I don't want people to think that my days as a cricketer are over,'" said V Balaji, a long-time friend of Karthik, who is also his manager. "Him doing commentary was one thing but doing it so brilliantly was another thing. He was getting noticed (as a commentator), and for only the second time, an Indian was a neutral commentator for Sky Sports. He was seen as one of the best in business. So yes, it came with a lot of bouquets, but at the same time, it also made question himself: 'Am I finished as a cricketer’?"

That's when he started working his way back, training uncompromisingly before the Vijay Hazare Trophy (one-day tournament). He had a highly successful tournament, including a hundred in the final, though Tamil Nadu lost the title clash to Himachal Pradesh.

That success didn't come easy, there was a lot of hard work behind it but with a purpose. He went to Mumbai and trained in different conditions in terms of pitches. He played on turning tracks, grassy and seaming pitches, bouncy surfaces and so on. He did a lot of batting, a lot of wicket-keeping drills and he had a designated coach for running to enhance his fitness, apart from regular physical training. He also worked a lot on the mental aspect of his game, which helped him focus better.

"He had broadcasting offers, a lot of commercials to shoot, a lot of social media stuff to handle, a lot of schools to visit... All that is money. He was happy he was getting all these offers, but he knew his priority had to be cricket. 'I can always do these things at a later stage but as a cricketer, I have only two-three more seasons and so I have to give my best,' he would say,” revealed Balaji. “After a lot of deliberations and discussions, he ensured all other commitments worked around his cricket so that his practice and training didn't get disturbed."

So driven is he to play for the country again that he would often shuttle between Bengaluru, where he did specific wicketkeeping drills, and Mumbai, where he was training for his batting.

What has also stood out in Dinesh Karthik 2.0 is his calmness even in tense situations, perhaps the biggest reason behind his success. He also got clarity about his role after his talks with RCB coach Sanjay Bangar before the start of the IPL. He understood his role and practiced accordingly.

The shots we see might look easy but he has practiced all those a thousand times over. With Bangar conveying exactly what Karthik's role is, he practiced with purpose. He trained on specifics in that he was training to be a good IPL finisher, not necessarily a good batsman alone.

Check out latest DH videos here