[Watch] Paarl Royals announce the signing of Dinesh Karthik for SA20 with a special video

Paarl Royals announced the signing of wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik for the upcoming SA20 season with a touching video on Tuesday, August 6. The 39-year-old will become the first Indian player to feature in the SA20.

It will be Karthik's first tournament since he announced his retirement from professional cricket on his birthday in June. Following his announcement, he was named the batting coach and mentor of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the franchise he played for in the last three IPL seasons.

Meanwhile, Paarl Royals, the sister franchise of IPL's Rajasthan Royals, took to their social media handle to announce the signing of Dinesh Karthik and him signing the contract.

Here is the video of the same:

While Karthik has been a regular in broadcasting at different parts of the world, including the recent T20 World Cup, he displayed terrific form when last seen on the field.

The 39-year-old scored 326 runs at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 187.36 in 15 games during IPL 2024.

The Paarl Royals, meanwhile, qualified for the playoffs in the first two seasons of the SA20. However, they could not achieve ultimate glory and were eliminated before the final on both occasions.

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"Have so many fond memories of playing in and visiting South Africa" - Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik admitted the chance to return to competitive cricket, especially in South Africa, was alluring as he signed up to represent the Paarl Royals for the upcoming SA20 season.

Incidentally, Karthik was the Player of the Match in India's first-ever T20I in South Africa in 2006. He was also part of the Indian squad that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa.

On the opportunity to play for the Paarl Royals, Karthik was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz:

"I have so many fond memories of playing in and visiting South Africa, and when this opportunity came about, I couldn't say no because of how special it would be to come back to playing competitive cricket and win this incredible competition with the Royals."

"Even though I didn't have the chance to represent the Royals in the IPL, to me it was always a franchise setup and environment that was very attractive as a player. I am delighted to be joining the Paarl Royals team which oozes a lot of experience, quality and potential. I am certainly looking forward to joining the group and contributing to what should be an exciting season," he added.

Karthik boasts an incredible record in T20s, scoring over 7,400 runs at an average of 27.13 and a strike rate of almost 137 in 401 games.