Dinesh Karthik behind the mic is something that World Cup-winning former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni "really enjoys", the Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper-batter said, terming it "my biggest accolade". Currently commentating on the India-Australia Test series, the 37-year-old Karthik will be next seen in action in the upcoming IPL. He said a word of praise from Dhoni made the job of commentary special for him.
"I enjoyed commentary in the little stints that I did. I think I enjoyed speaking about the game, looking at it very analytically, at the same time trying to, you know, get something meaningful across to everybody who's watching this sport.
"So, you know, I always tried to make sense out of a situation in my own way and tried to articulate it in the way I thought it was," he said the RCB podcast.
Karthik added, "And my biggest accolade came from the person that I least expected from - MS Dhoni. He called me and said: 'I really enjoyed the commentary. Very, very good. Well done'.
"I was like, wow, thank you so much. So, that is big, you know, obviously, he watches a lot of this sport. And so to hear him say that was really good. And I was happy that you enjoyed my commentary." Karthik had a fine season with RCB last time around, scoring 330 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 183 which earned him a place in the Indian team as a finisher.
Speaking about Virat Kohli, Karthik said the Indian batting maestro's dominance for close to a decade is "unparalleled".
"What he has achieved as a person... he has literally carried the team for the last 10 years. His consistency and mastery over the game, I don't think anybody has achieved it in the world of cricket for a very, very long time, his dominance for about close to a decade is unparalleled.
"We have to understand that there are three different formats, and playing three different formats itself is difficult and then there he is averaging 50 in all of them, travelling abroad scoring as well," he said.
"I can speak about him a lot. He is very chill, very easy, with the bowlers, the young guys."