Royals Sports Group-owned franchise Paarl Royals on Tuesday announced the marquee signing of Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik as one of their newest overseas recruits for Season 3.
The 39-year-old, who had announced retirement from all forms of cricket earlier in June, has decided to represent the Royals and becomes the first-ever Indian to participate in the SA20.
The development follows close on the heels of SA20 announcing Monday that Karthik had been appointed league ambassador.
DK, as he is fondly known, last played competitive cricket during this year’s IPL for RCB where he played a crucial role in the team’s playoffs qualification, scoring 326 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 187.36.
Welcoming Karthik to the franchise, Royals’ director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara said: “Dinesh has served as one of the modern day greats for India in white ball cricket, and his wealth of experience will contribute to the making of our side for season 3. He has always proved to be a great asset for the teams he’s represented across leagues for the way he approaches the game and the impact he can make, so it’s an exciting signing for us and we look forward to having him with the group at Paarl.”
The signing of Karthik means the Paarl Royals will have a formidable side going into the auction, with captain David Miller, Joe Root, Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin, Andile Phehlukwayo, Mitchell van Buuren, Codi Yusuf, Keith Dudgeon, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuandre Pretorius and Dayyaan Galiem among the players who have signed for season 3.
