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Dinesh Karthik gave two reasons for choosing to play in the SA20 after his retirement from Indian cricket.
Dinesh Karthik (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)
India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik called SA20 the ‘best competition’ after the IPL and said he chose to play in it because he wanted to stay in touch with some ‘real competitive cricket’ after retiring from internationals and the IPL.
Karthik, who was signed by the Paarl Royals as Jos Buttler’s replacement, made his SA20 debut against SunRisers Eastern Cape in the third match of the 2025 season on Saturday. He became the first Indian to feature in the league.
“A couple of reasons I joined this league,” he told the commentators mic’d up in the field at the Boland Park stadium in Paarl. “I genuinely believe this is the best comp. after the IPL. So, I wanted to play some real competitive cricket and I don’t think there is a better tournament than this. And B) I always wanted to be part of the Royals setup. A lot of my friends played in the Royals setup so when the offer came along, I was more than happy to accept it.”
Karthik had started taking up commentary stints a couple of years ago and did the same at the SA20 last year. He became eligible to take part in the competition and other such leagues after announcing his retirement after Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)’s campaign ended in the Eliminator of IPL 2024.
Speaking about his first impressions of cricket in South Africa, Karthik said he was ‘pretty amazed’ by seeing the talent available in the league.
“A lot of good talent out here. The first couple of days, when I came out here, I was pretty amazed to see how much talent is out here. A couple of guys not playing as well. It’s a good squad, a good tournament, really looking forward to gelling with the boys here,” he added.
Eastern Cape won the toss and opted to bat first in the match. Skipper Aiden Markram scored a brilliant 49-ball 82 at number four, sandwiched between failures from Zak Crawley (27 off 18) and Tristan Stubbs (28 off 26) to make the most of their time on the crease.
Karthik was involved in the run-out of Tom Abell as he broke the stumps off a good throw from Lungi Ngidi.
