Dinesh Karthik in numbers

Dinesh Karthik is a hot issue debated over and over on this blog. Does he deserve consistent selections in all 3 teams despite his consistent inconsistent performances with ball (oops he does not ball), bat and gloves (he seldom keeps).

 

Lets have a look at his performance in each of the 3 formats over last 15 months to give him some benefit of doubt.

 

Tests

 

Last 12 months he has played just 1 Test against lowly Bangladesh and has scored just 27 runs. So let’s rewind a little bit more in the past and have a look at his figures:

 

Okay for 24 months:

 

Here are his figures:

 

4

69

27

9.85

0

–

–

–

–

9

0

 

Played 4 Tests, made 69 runs with a highest 27 against BD. Average of 9.85.  2 of this tests were against SL, 1 against NZ and 1 against BD. Made 36 in 2 against SL in a series which saw dooms for the Fab Four of the Indian Test lineup. So if the fab four failed who is he to succeed ?  And then in 2009 he played one against Kiwis and made just 6.   Took 9 catches and no stumpings.  Career average is 28 odd runs per innings in 23 Tests, major chunk of which he played in 2007 when Sehwag was out of the Test squad thanks to DBV.

 

So whenever any player in Tests gets injured he is named in. Mostly when MS rests or injured.  In SL he was competing with Parthiv Patel who played his last Test till date in 2008.

 

Tests Verdict : Failure.

 

Reason he is in : Selectors fail to see beyond him as reserve wicket keeper in Tests and though he is said to have worked over his batting, the same does not reflect in the figures.  So the only reason he is in is due to the quota system reinforced by Mr Srikanth.

 

Now lets have a look at his T20I numbers:

 

He has played just 8 games and he has made 87 runs in those 8 games. Highest is of 31* he made against SA, India’s inaugural T20 game, Sachin’s only T20I and his only match winning innings for India.

 

8

87

31*

17.40

0

–

–

–

–

4

2

 

Average of 17.40 for a frontline batsman opening or in the middle order is very poor. He has not kept for India in T20Is in recent memory thanks to the captain who is a keeper. 

 

T20I verdict  : Failure.

 

He is in just cos Srikanth blah blah.

 

ODIs

 

In 2 years he has played 15 games and has scored 439 runs with an highest  of 79 vs SA in the same game when Sachin scored 200.

 

filtered

15

439

79

39.90

0

–

–

–

–

4

2

 

High average of 40 almost, thanks to couple of not outs he’s had and that’s bulged his average to a flattering figure of 40.

 

 

Further breakup of his figures against teams show following:

 

v Bangladesh	1	34	34	34.00	0	–	–	–	–	0	0
v New Zealand	1	4	4	4.00	0	–	–	–	–	0	0
v South Africa	3	134	79	44.66	0	–	–	–	–	0	0
v Sri Lanka	5	115	48	57.50	0	–	–	–	–	3	2
v West Indies	5	152	67	38.00	0	–	–	–	–	1	0

 

He has played as keeper in 2 of this 15 games and as a fielder in 13. Has not played against any strong opposition barring SA and the innings of 79 takes his average to 44.66 from 21.  Has had just 2 50s in the 15 innings he has played.

 

Further breaking down to his scoring pattern he suggests following:

 

5 scores of less than 20 with one not out.

2 50 plus of 67 and 79. 

6 scores between 30 and 48.

 

He has not played a single game against Australia, England and Pakistan – teams with better bowling attacks than Sri Lanka or West Indies or NZ.

 

He has got a decent record in the ODIs in this time frame yet he does not draw any awe getting him into teams consistently.

 

He is in for the Zim tri series ahead of Pandey and Uthappa besides many other players who succeeded in IPL 3.  What’s going to be his role in the ODI team keeping the WC’11 in frame of mind which has already a settled batting line up : Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina, Kohli.

 

Where does he fit in ? Does he compete with Kohli along side Uthappa and may be Pandey who are less likely to appear in the ODIs ? Is he going to be a replacement for either of Tendulkar / Sehwag should one of the two get injured? In that case Gambhir steps up and opens. What does Karthik do there ?  And if he has to be played in the capacity of a keeper, then a lot better replacement for him would be Uthappa who kept decently for RCB in IPL 3.  But would Uthappa get a chance to play few ODIs to claim his lost place ?

 

His cameos in  England 2007 ODI series are forgotten but they did play a major role in cementing him as a floater in the middle order which still had Dravid and Ganguly in the team along side Sehwag, Tendulkar,Yuvraj and Dhoni.