IND vs SA 2022: Dinesh Karthik makes India comeback after over 1066 days

Source: Twitter

Veteran wicketer-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik made a stellar comeback in the Indian side after a long wait of 1066 days on Thursday (June 9). Karthik's extraordinary performance in the IPL 2022 with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got the right-hander a spot back in the Indian team for the first T20I against South Africa.

Dinesh Karthik returned to the Men in Blue squad after almost 3 years with Rishabh Pant leading the side. It was a long wait of 1066 days to be accurate as Karthik played his last game in an Indian jersey back in 2019 when India lost against New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final under MS Dhoni's captaincy.

After the 2019 World Cup, Karthik failed to impress in the IPL 2021 season with Kolkata Knight Riders and gave up his captaincy in between the season. As a result, KKR didn't retain him for the IPL 2022 season and he replied to his critics with a stellar season with RCB.

First Indian to complete 15-year long career in:
Test - Lala Amarnath in 1948
ODI - Dilip Vengsarkar in 1991
T20I - Dinesh Karthik in 2022

Albeit long gaps in career, the Player of the Match of India's first T20I has also become the first to have a 15-year career.#INDvSA — Pankaj Mishra (@pankajplmishra) June 9, 2022

Karthik played as a finisher in the RCB batting order finishing the season with an average of 57.4 scoring 287 runs with an explosive strike rate of 191.