'It's special to be part of this team': Dinesh Karthik on his return to India squad

India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has is enjoying every minute of being part of the national team after making a comeback following a three-year gap.

Karthik returned to the Indian T20I side for the first time since 2019 for the ongoing five-match series against South Africa.

The RCB batsman had a successful IPL 2022, hitting 330 runs at a strike-rate of over 180.

"Very happy, very proud...It's an incredible atmosphere and team to be part of. For the last three years now, from the outside, I have been looking in and I know what a special feeling it is to be part of this team. And to be part of this team, I am very happy and very grateful and am enjoying every second that I am here," Karthik told BCCI on the eve of the fourth T20I in Rajkot.

"I have been dropped so many times. I have always wanted to come back to the Indian team. Wherever I have played...whether it's domestic cricket, the IPL, the fire in the belly and the urge to come back here and wear the national colours and represent India has been something I dream of every day and that has what kept me going consistently in the last decade or so.

"I have always found ways to enhance my game and I have always had people, special people, around me to help me in that journey and they have been part of this journey. The fact that I have always wanted to come back to the national team and do well has been the shining light, so to say, in my life for a very very long time now," he added.