IPL 2021: Karthik joins elite 200 club

When the Kolkata Knight Riders went up against the Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday night, it marked a milestone for wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik.

The 35-year-old from Tamil Nadu, who has played 26 Tests, 94 ODIs and 32 T20 Internationals, joined an elite club of cricketers to have played 200 matches in the IPL.

Karthik is the third player to reach the landmark after former Indian captain MS Dhoni, skipper of the Chennai Super Kings, and Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma.

Since making his IPL debut for the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2008, Karthik has gone on to ply his trade for Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians, before returning to the Delhi Daredevils. He then went on to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Lions before joining the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018.

Karthik is 13th on the list of top run getters in the IPL with 3855 runs from 180 innings, with his highest score being 97 not out against the Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens in 2019. Karthik has 19 half-centuries to his name.

MS Dhoni leads the list with 208 matches followed by Rohit Sharma, who has played 204 games. This season marked Dhoni’s 200th game for the Chennai Super Kings and 200th match as captain of the franchise.

Meanwhile, Knight Riders’ Australian pacer Pat Cummins also reached a landmark, that of 100 T20 matches.

james@khaleejtimes.com

• IPL 2024