Dinesh Kartik to play in SA20 League

Dinesh Kartik will shortly become the first Indian player to feature in the SA20 League. It is learned that the wicketkeeper batter will join Paarl Royals as a foreign player ahead of the new season beginning January 9. 

This will be Kartik’s first tournament as a player since retiring from the Indian cricket team in June on his 39th birthday. Kartik, who made 180 international appearances for India was last seen during the Indian T20 League for Bengaluru. He is now signed as the mentor-cum-batting coach for the franchise. 

His peers rate him as among the brightest pundits owing to his vast experience in the shortest format. Kartik, currently with Sky Sports covering the Hundred, has featured in 401 T20s and, in the Indian T20 League, represented six franchises which included captaining Kolkata (KOL). Kartik is also regarded as one of the fittest players in the Indian T20 League, having missed only two matches across the seventeen seasons. 

The Indian Cricket Board only allows retired players to partake in overseas T20 Leagues. In 2023, Ambati Rayudu joined St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean T20 League while the Pathan brothers (Yusuf and Irfan) featured for Dubai in the International T20 League. Before that it was Suresh Raina playing in the UAE T10 League for the Deccan Gladiators. 

Paarl Royals named their retentions ahead of the new season last week, with skipper David Miller, Lungi Ndidi and Andile Phehlukwayo making the cut. In the previous edition of the SA20 league, Paarl Royals made it to the Qualifiers but were eventually knocked out by Joburg Super Kings.

Paarl Royals squad

David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dinesh Karthik, Mitchell van Buuren, Codi Yusuf, Keith Dudgeon, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dayyaan Galiem (traded in)