Krishnakumar Dinesh Karthik, popularly known as Dinesh Karthik, is an Indian cricketer who made a tremendous comeback to the game after a personal tragedy. Dinesh, who made his debut for the Indian cricket team in 2004, became the fourth Indian batsman to play 300 T20 matches. Born in Chennai to a Telugu-speaking family, Dinesh began playing cricket at the mere age of 10.
Dinesh Karthik has played various forms of cricket and is currently the captain of the Tamil Nadu cricket team. He began playing IPL for Delhi Daredevils, and his impressive performances awed everyone. In 2011, Dinesh joined Kings XI Punjab and became the second most expensive player. The ace cricketer has set many records in his domestic and international career.
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Though Dinesh played quite well on-field, setting new records every day, cricket led to the most tragic life personally. His first marriage crumbled, and he was left in shambles with a broken heart. The tragedy affected him so much that he lost his charm in the game. Let us look at the personal struggles faced by Dinesh Karthik while he was at the peak of his career.
Dinesh Karthik and Nikita Vanjara were childhood friends and grew up together. Their friendship turned into love, and their respective families agreed to their alliance. In 2007, when Dinesh was 21 years old, he tied the knot with Nikita, and the duo began their happy married life.
The initial phase of Dinesh and Nikita’s marriage was blissful. However, cracks started appearing in their lives after five years. It was at that moment that Nikita fell for cricketer Murali Vijay. Murali was not just Dinesh’s teammate but a good friend, too.
It was during the crucial Vijay Hazare trophy match against Karnataka in 2012, when Dinesh got to know about his wife, Nikita’s affair with his best friend and teammate, Murali Vijay. It was a big shock for Karthik, who felt betrayed by his wife and his best friend.
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After learning about his wife, Nikita’s affair, Dinesh decided to part ways with her. While the divorce procedure was going on, Dinesh learnt that Nikita was pregnant with Murali’s child. Without tarnishing Nikita and Murali’s image in public, Dinesh kept his silence and amicably parted ways with her.
Post-divorcing Dinesh, Nikita married Murali, and the couple welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Nirav, in 2013. Later, they were blessed with a baby girl named Eva. In 2017, Murali and Nikita welcomed a baby boy named Aarav into their lives.
While Nikita led a happy life with Murali, it was not the same for Dinesh, who was devastated by the shock. He went into depression, and his performance declined in all the formats. He stopped going to the gym and took long breaks from practice sessions, which ultimately led to his elimination from the Indian cricket team.
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Dinesh was in a complete mess when his friend and mentor, Abhishek Nayar insisted him to restart his life. Abhishek helped Dineh get back to the gym, where he was training the Indian national squash player, Dipika Pallikal.
Dinesh Karthik and Dipika Pallikal took fitness classes with the same coach, Basu Shankar and Dipika initially kept herself away from Dinesh as she didn’t want any unwanted attention from the media. Gradually, the two became good friends, and Dipika was a great influence on Dinesh. In an interview with IANS, Dipika Pallikal had recalled her first meeting with Dinesh Karthik and had said:
"In fact, the first time we met was at a marathon some five years ago. After that, we met at the gym and, if I remember, I left for practice without even saying bye to him. Slowly we got to know each other."
Dinesh and Dipika were fond of each other, and it was his caring and humble nature that drew Dipika close to him. During an interview with the Sportskeeda, Dipika revealed how she fell in love with Dinesh and said:
“It was February 2013, and I had just won a tournament in Canada while Dinesh was playing domestic cricket in India. I went to Leeds (England) to train for a week and I found him there, coming all the way to see me. That was when I fell for him, realising not many would do something like that. He used to watch me train at the academy and even tried his hand at squash. He played much better than I thought.”
Dinesh Karthik had proposed to Dipika Pallikal in London after the Indian team had won the Champions Trophy. In 2013, the couple got engaged in Chennai and in 2015, they tied the knot. Dinesh and Dipika had two weddings, a Christian wedding on August 18, 2015, followed by a Hindu-style Telugu wedding on August 20, 2015.
In 2021, Dinesh and Dipika were blessed with twin babies. The couple announced the arrival of their twin boys and revealed their names as Kabir Pallikal Karthik and Zian Pallikal Karthik. Dipika stopped playing after her pregnancy.
Not just in his personal life, Dinesh also made a comeback in his professional life as well. He scored heavily in domestic matches and was selected for the Champions Trophy in England. In 2022, Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Dinesh for Rs. 5.5 crores at the IPL mega auction. He became the second wicketkeeper ever in the history of IPL to complete 150 dismissals. Apart from playing on the field, Karthik has also been a part of the commentary team during the T20 and ODI series.
Dinesh Karthik’s story is an inspiration to many. Despite the setbacks in his personal life, the cricketer rose up for his passion towards the game and proved that cricket will always be his first love.
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