Dinesh Karthik Becomes First Indian Cricketer to Join South Africa's SA20 League

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has become the first Indian cricketer to join South Africa's domestic T20 league SA20. Karthik on Tuesday signed a contract with Paarl Royals for the third season of the tournament. The upcoming season of SA20 will start from January 9 next year. 39-year-old Karthik, who played for a long time in the IPL, retired from all formats of cricket in June this year and was appointed by IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore as a mentor as well as batting coach.

Karthik last played a competitive T20 match for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2024. He scored 326 runs in 14 matches in the 2024 season at a strike rate of 187.36. Karthik played his last match for India against Bangladesh during the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022. It is known that Karthik was made the ambassador of this league a day earlier.

Karthik, who has played 180 matches across all three formats for India, said, "I have so many memories of playing in and visiting South Africa and when this opportunity came I couldn't say no because it would be so special to get back to competitive cricket and win this incredible competition with the Royals. I am very happy to join the Paarl Royals team which has a lot of experience, quality and potential. I am certainly looking forward to joining this group and contributing to an exciting season."