On Friday, Dinesh Karthik was the best player for India in their lopsided triumph over South Africa in the fourth T20I of the five-match home series in Rajkot. Dinesh Karthik came out all guns blazing as he unleashed his full arsenal of shots – pulls, cuts, drives, sweep and even the reverse-sweep, almost everything was on display as he raced through to a scintillating 55 off 27 balls, helping Team India to a competitive total of 169/6 in the first innings of the contest.

Remarkably, it was Dinesh Karthik's maiden fifty in T20Is and the one which made him the oldest Indian batter to hit a half-century in the shortest format of the game. Earlier, the record was held by the legendary MS Dhoni who had scored a fifty against the same opposition in 2018 when he was 36. Karthik, meanwhile, registered his half-century at the age of 37 during the weekend.

OLDEST INDIANS TO Complete T20I Half-Centuries

37 years, 16 days – Dinesh Karthik v South Africa, 2022*

36 years, 229 days – MS Dhoni v South Africa in 201

35 years and 1 day- Shikhar Dhawan vs Australia in 2020

Notably, Dinesh Karthik featured in India's first T20I match back in 2006 when India beat South Africa at the Wanderers. Like in Rajkot, Karthik was the key man in Johannesburg as well as he remained unbeaten on 31 to guide India to a six-wicket victory there.

Coming back to the game in Gujarat, Dinesh Karthik arrived at the crease with India in deep trouble, having just lost skipper Rishabh Pant. The home team's score read 81/4 in 13 overs and Dinesh Karthik had the twin task of building a partnership with vice-captain Hardik Pandya and scoring runs at a quick rate at the same time.

And boy, Dinesh Karthik delivered in some style, clobbering the Proteas bowlers all over the park, taking on both the pacers and the spinners with aplomb. Such was the brazenness of his attack that it left the South African bowlers scratching their heads.
His knock of 55 was laced with 9 boundaries and 2 gigantic sixes before he was dismissed in the final over of the Indian innings. Hardik Pandya gave him good company as the ace all-rounder smacked an equally impressive 46 off 31 balls.

The bowlers too did an excellent job for India. Led by the young Avesh Khan who took his career-best figures of 4/18, India bowled out South Africa for a paltry 87 to notch up an 82-run win to level the series at 2-2 in Rajkot. The fifth match at Bengaluru's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will now decide the fate of the series on Sunday.

Despite Avesh Khan's superb show with the ball, it was Dinesh Karthik who stole the limelight from everyone else with his fantastic innings with the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, and Irfan Pathan leading the plaudits for the veteran India wicketkeeper batter.

“55(27) for DK. Playing on a different planet. He just gets T20. And nobody plays that role better than he does in this Indian set-up,” noted commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted.

“Maiden T20I fifty. At the age of 37 – Dinesh Karthik is up and moving. What an inspiring story of a comeback this has been. Take a bow!,” a fan said on Twitter.

“People used to laugh when Dinesh Karthik made statements about wanting to make a comeback in the national team. Same people are praising him now,” a second supporter added.

“Carried RCB in IPL and now carrying Indian team, DK never disappoints. Massive come back for Dinesh Karthik in international cricket,” a third declared.

Even India captain Rishabh Pant was impressed by Dinesh Karthik's knock, hailing him for taking the Proteas bowlers apart in the match.

“We talked about execution and here are the results! We can talk about toss but whichever team plays better generally wins. Really happy with Hardik putting up a stand while DK went for the kill, that's when the bowlers felt the pressure. As an individual, there are points for improvement but I am not too concerned,” Pant said in the post-match presentation.

Dinesh Karthik, on the other hand, was satisfied with his performance, saying that he was happy to win a game for India.

“Just feels good, I’m getting used to being interviewed with people I played with. I’m very secure in this set up. In the last game, things didn’t go well but I felt safe after going back to the dressing room. I am thinking a bit better and am able to assess situations better. That comes from planning and experience. They bowled brilliantly up front, our openers could not get going,” Dinesh Karthik told former India spinner Murali Kartik who played alongside him back in the early 2000s.

“When I went in, Hardik told me to bide time. To execute things well is great. To go and be a local boy in Bengaluru, despite not representing RCB, is a thrill. The series is on the line which is great. Rahul Dravid has focused on what batters and bowlers need to do and not the results, the dressing room is secure and feels fuzzy which is good. That clarity and environment has helped,” Karthik concluded.