IND vs SA | Dinesh Karthik made it impossible for selectors to ignore him, says Kapil Dev

India have lost the first two games of the five-match T20I series but it has been special for Dinesh Karthik as he earned a recall to the Indian team. Karthik performed brilliantly in the IPL 2022 scoring 330 runs at an average of 55 and a massive strike rate of 183.33 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He played the role of a finisher for the franchise successfully and his performance handed him a recall to the national team. 

Kapil Dev praised the senior batter for his performance saying that he forced the selectors to think that they can’t ignore him.

"This time he has performed so well that he has forced the selectors to think that 'look, you can't ignore me'. Rishabh Pant is a youngster, he has plenty of cricket. Dinesh Karthik has experience and performance, which is why I would say, that no praise is enough for him," said Kapil on Youtube channel Uncut.

Karthik made his international debut in 2004 against England. He has been continuously in and out of the team since then. The last game Karthik played for India was in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. Dev also backed Karthik for keeping his motivation high even after playing for so many years. 

"He has been playing cricket even before MS Dhoni. It’s been 2 years since Dhoni retired but even now, Karthik has kept his motivation level high and to love the game with the same passion and heart after so many years is not easy. If you talk about consistency, then Dinesh Karthik is ahead of them all. Irrespective of how many balls he faces – 20, 10, or 15, he always delivers, like we saw in the IPL.”