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Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik will become the first Indian player to take part in South African T20 league, SA20 2025. Karthik, who quit all forms in cricket after the IPL, will make a comeback when he will stride out to play for the Paarl Royals, a sister franchise of the IPL's Rajasthan Royals.
Last week, the Paarl Royals announced the list of retained players for the upcoming season, including captain David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, and Andile Phehlukwayo. It will be rather interesting to see how Dinesh Karthik fits into the scheme of things and how Paarl Royals will use him in the side.
Here, we take a look at three reasons why Dinesh Karthik signing for Paarl Royals for SA20 2025 is the wrong move.
#3 Long absence from cricket
The SA20 2025 will see Dinesh Karthik making a comeback after announcing his retirement from "representative cricket" in June this year. This is a long gap for a player willing to go the distance in professional cricket and it will coincide with his 39th birthday.
Even when he was not a regular in the Indian team, Karthik was a regular for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket and played a number of domestic leagues. This kept him in good form in the IPL and he could hit the ground running from the word go. Since, he will also take up the gloves, his fitness and his abilities to go through the rigours of professional cricket will be under the scanner.
The Paarl Royals have taken a punt, but this could well prove to be an investment made on the wrong player.
#2 What will Paarl Royals gain?
Jos Buttler has pulled out from the SA20 2025 and hence, Dinesh Karthik could be the wicketkeeper-batter in the squad. However, Paarl might not gain a lot with Karthik considering the phase of the career he currently is in.
Karthik was good in the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2024 - 326 runs at an average of 36 and with a strike rate nudging 188. Despite these numbers, Karthik will be away from the game for close to 7-8 months and thus, might not have the impact of a Jos Buttler.
The Royals, with Kumar Sangakkara at the helm, could have opted for a better replacement, a more potent wicketkeeper-batter to take up the mantle from Jos Buttler.
#1 Could Dinesh Karthik have taken up a coaching stint?
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have already signed up Dinesh Karthik as a mentor-cum-batting coach following his retirement from the league last season. As such, it would have been beneficial for the Tamil Nadu player to go for a coaching role if he harbours any ambition of dabbling into this role after his RCB stint.
Currently, Karthik is a full-time commentator and is considered to be one of the sharpest minds, especially in the shortest format. He is with Sky Sports covering the Hundred and hence, could have forayed into coaching as a full-time mentor/coach of any of the different T20 franchises across the globe.
He has been a leader in the IPL as well as for Tamil Nadu and considering his dexterity with the microphone, Karthik could have been better placed had he become a full-time coach and rise through the ranks.
