Former Pakistan cricket team fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has lauded Dinesh Karthik’s mental strength for making a comeback to the Indian cricket team despite facing some personal setbacks in life. Karthik played his last international match for the Indian cricket team in the 2019 edition of the Cricket World Cup. He was a part of the playing XI for the semifinal against the New Zealand cricket team.
After the mega event, Karthik did not find a place in the white-ball squads of the Indian cricket team. He had a couple of ordinary Indian Premier League seasons as well. At one point, Karthik became a member of the English commentary panel for India’s matches. But at the same time, he also continued to work hard on his game.
When IPL 2022 arrived, Karthik brought his ‘A’ game to the table for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and helped the franchise qualify for the playoffs. He played a match-winning role for the RCB franchise, winning multiple games for them after coming out to bat in difficult situations.
Thanks to his excellent batting performances, Karthik is back in the Indian squad now. He is a part of the Indian cricket team that will cross swords against the South African cricket team in a five-match T20I series next month.
I usually avoid speaking about people’s personal lives: Shoaib Akhtar
In an interaction with Sportskeeda Cricket, former Pakistan cricket team fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar lauded Dinesh Karthik for his comeback. Without going into details, he highlighted his personal setbacks and said:
“I usually avoid speaking about people’s personal lives. What I want to say here is that he had suffered some setbacks in his personal life, but he came back really well after that. I have followed his personal life and read quite a bit about it. And I really like how he has come back. I would say well done to him.“
