Dinesh Karthik was one of the plethora of wicketkeepers tried out by India in the Ganguly era of Indian cricket before the arrival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Nevertheless, having been in and out of the Indian team and in the limited opportunities he's had, he has performed admirably behind the stumps as well as with the bat.

Having risen through the ranks in age-group cricket, Karthik started to make the selectors' shortlist after a string of centuries in the 2002/03 season for the Tamil Nadu Under-19 side. The runs faded away towards the end of the season, but the selectors decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and he was summoned into the national side after Parthiv Patel was axed due to his unreliable glovework.