Dinesh Karthik Height, Age, Wife, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Krishna Kumar Dinesh Karthik
Nickname	DK
Profession	Indian Cricketer (Right-hand Batsman and Wicket-keeper)
Food Habit	Non-vegetarian
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	5' 7" (170 cm)
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Cricket
International Debut	Test- 3 November 2004 against Australia at Mumbai ODI- 5 September 2004 against England at London T20- 1 December 2006 against South Africa at Johannesburg
Coach/Mentor	Robin Singh
Jersey Number	#21, 19 (India) #21, 19 (Domestic)
Domestic/State Team	Abahani Limited, Albert TUTI Patriots, Delhi Daredevils, Gujarat Lions, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, South Zone, Tamil Nadu
Nature on field	Calm
Records (main ones)	• The first ever Indian cricketer to win a T20I Man of the Match award (against South Africa in 2006). • He has done batting from opening position to No. 7.
Career Turning Point	Performance in the 2004 domestic season.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	1 June 1985
Age (as of 2024)	39 Years
Birthplace	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Zodiac sign	Gemini
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
School(s)	Don Bosco School, Chennai St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Chennai Indian Public School in Salmiya, Kuwait
Family	Father- Krishnakumar (Worked as a System Analyst) Mother- Padma (Worked in IDBI and ONGC) Brother- Vinesh (Younger) Sister- None
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Brahmin
Address	An apartment called The Karthik’s’ in Chennai
Hobbies	Playing sudoku, Reading, Swimming, Travelling
Controversies	• It was believed that there was a love triangle between Karthik, his Ex-wife Nikita and cricketer Murali Vijay as it was said that she cheated on him with Murali Vijay • On 1 July 2021, during the second ODI between Sri Lanka and England, he was criticized for making sexist comments. While doing commentary during the match, Karthik had made comparisons between cricket bats and "neighbour's wife." He said, "Batsmen and not liking bats, they go hand in hand. Most of the batters don't seem to like their bats. They either like another person's bat. Bats are like a neighbour's wife. They always feel better." On 4 July 2021, after being heavily criticised on social media, Karthik came up with an apology while he was commentating on Sky Sports during the third ODI between England and Sri Lanka. He said, "I want to apologise for what happened last game. It's not really what I intended. I just got it all wrong. I apologise to everybody. It's definitely not the right thing to say. I am really sorry that it shouldn't happen again. I got a lot of stick from my wife and my mum for saying that." [1]NDTV Sports
Favourites
Cricketer(s)	Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar, Ian Botham Bowler: R Ashwin
Tennis Player	Roger Federer
Food	Butter chicken
Actor(s)	Rajinikanth, Suriya, Dhanush
Musician	A.R. Rahman
Girls, Family & More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Nikita Vanjara Dipika Pallikal (Squash Player)
Wife/Spouse(s)	First Wife- Nikita Vanjara (m. 2007–div. 2012) Second Wife- Dipika Pallikal (m. 2015-present)
Marriage Date	18 August 2015 (with Dipika Pallikal - as per Christian rituals) 20 August 2015 (with Dipika Pallikal - as per Hindu rituals)
Marriage Place	Christian- The Leela Palace hotel in Chennai Hindu- ITC Grand Chola in Chennai
Children	On 28 October 2021, Dinesh Karthik and his wife, Dipika Pallikal, took to social media to announce the birth of their twin baby boys.
Style Quotient
Car Collection	Porsche 911 Turbo S
Money Factor
Salary (as of 2018)	Retainer Fee: ₹3 crore Test Fee: ₹15 lakh ODI Fee: ₹6 lakh T20 Fee: ₹3 lakh IPL 11: ₹7.4 crore
Net Worth (approx.)	INR 44 crore

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dinesh Karthik

• Dinesh was born into a Tamil Brahmin family with a sporting background as his father was a first-division cricketer for Chennai.

• During his childhood, he and his family lived in Kuwait for some years where he started playing cricket by watching English County cricket matches on TV.

• He was coached by former Indian cricketer, Robin Singh. 

• On his ODI debut in 2004 vs England, he dropped Michael Vaughan, but later did a fabulous stumping to dismiss him.

• Due to his inconsistent performance in wicket-keeping and batting, he was replaced by MS Dhoni at the end of 2004.

• Cricketer Mulari Vijay is married to his Ex-wife Nikita.

• His second wife, Dipika Pallikal is an Indian Squash Champion. 

• He first met his second wife, Dipika Rebecca Pallikal at the Chennai marathon in 2008, through their common gym trainer, Shankar Basu, of ‘Maverick Gym,’ Chennai.

• He used to wear #19 jersey for India which was Rahul Dravid‘s jersey number before. 

• He is a huge fan of the sports cars.

• He has played for many IPL teams, like Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Lions, and Kolkata Knight Riders.

• He was going through a rough patch in the late 2015 and early 2016, and was desperate for something to get his international cricket career back on track. During this period, he shared about his struggle with his friend Abhishek Nayar, a Mumbai cricketer. Nayar suggested Karthik to join him in his “House of Pain”, a room in Nayar’s Mumbai residence, having a small area, and lack of facilities, especially for a person like Karthik who was used to of living a luxurious life. Over there, Nayar and Karthik did batting visualization techniques, meditation, and rigourous training in the afternoons, which not only transformed Karthik’s batting technique, but also his mental strength to make a strong comeback on the cricketing field. 

• For the first time in his IPL career, he captained Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 11 (2018), in place of Gautam Gambhir. 

• Daniel Vettori once gifted him his award motorbike during an IPL season.

• He is an avid dog lover. 

• On 18 March 2018, he hit a six off the last ball to give India a memorable victory over Bangladesh in the finals of the Nidahas Trophy T20 tri-series.

• After the eliminator match between the RCB and Rajasthan Royals in the 2024 IPL, he received a guard of honour from his teammates in Ahmedabad. IPL broadcaster JioCinema later confirmed the news of his retirement on social media.

1⃣ #TATAIPL 🏆
2⃣nd – most dismissals by a WK in #IPL 💪
3⃣rd – most appearances in the league's history! 🤯#IPLonJioCinema #RRvRCB #DineshKarthik #TATAIPLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/dXYJz6skOi

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 22, 2024