Dinesh Karthik recently revealed that in 2008 he expected himself to be picked by Chennai Super Kings and was disappointed when the team picked MS Dhoni instead. During the inaugural edition of IPL, it was expected that some of the biggest names in Indian cricket will play for their respective states and for the most part it happened. Sachin Tendulkar was bought by Mumbai Indians, Sourav Ganguly by KKR and Virender Sehwag by Delhi Daredevils but it was not the case for Dinesh Karthik. Dinesh Karthik Opens Up About Batting Above MS Dhoni in 2019 World Cup Semi-Final Against New Zealand, Says, ‘It Came as a Surprise’.

The wicket-keeper was one of the best players to come out of Tamil Nadu in the shortest format of the game and had also won the T20I World Cup with India a year earlier. As quoted by Times Now, the 34-year-old admitted that CSK opting for MS Dhoni instead of him was like a 'dagger to his heart'. MS Dhoni waxes the costliest player during the player auction for the 2008 season and was bought by the franchise for 1.5 million US dollars. MS Dhoni Fans Agitated As BCCI Shares Video of Wicket-Keeping Drill for 'Budding Wicket-Keepers' by R Sridhar.

‘In 2008, I was in Australia and the auction was happening. In the lead up to that, I was convinced that the biggest name from Tamil Nadu who is also playing for the country…I’m sure they (Chennai Super Kings) are going to pick me. The question is whether they are going to make me the captain or not…that was going on in my head. And the first name they picked as Dhoni, for 1.5 million and he was sitting right around the corner with me. And he didn’t even tell me that they are going to pick him,’ Karthik said.

Dinesh Karthik has represented six IPL franchises over the years but has revealed that he still waiting for the call by the three-time champions. ‘Probably he didn’t know. But that was the biggest dagger to my heart. So I thought that they would pick me later. It’s been 13 years and I am still waiting for that elusive call from CSK,’ Karthik added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2020 08:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).