Early international career Kartik had a truncated but productive 1999–2000 Indian season. After taking a solitary wicket in a truncated match for India A against the touring
New Zealand, Kartik snared 6/62 and 6/31 against Vidarbha. He then went on an India A tour to the West Indies, so his only other first-class match was a Ranji Trophy encounter against Rajasthan, in which he took 4/53. Kartik was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the
National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, after earlier having made his Test debut in early 2000 in a home series against South Africa. However, his stay was cut short along with that of Harbhajan, when they were expelled by the director
Hanumant Singh over disciplinary issues. In the 2000–01 season, Kartik started in fine form as he set out to maintain a Test position. In the
Irani Trophy, the traditional season opener between the reigning Ranji champions—Mumbai—and the Rest of India, Kartik orchestrated the defeat of the title-holders. After taking 4/73 in Mumbai's 260, Kartik scored 22 in Rest of India's total of 389. He then took 9/70 to cut down Mumbai for 184, and his batting colleagues accumulated the 55 needed for victory without loss. Kartik was dropped from the team after the first Test against Zimbabwe. In the one-day domestic circuit, Kartik took nine wickets at 25.22 at an economy rate of 4.02, giving himself a chance for a Test recall in the Duleep Trophy. The selectors were unsatisfied with these performances, and despite a shoulder injury to Kumble, Kartik was overlooked as India hosted
Australia in the 2001
Border–Gavaskar Trophy. taking 5/51 and 3/7 and scoring 69 in his final match of the season to secure a win over Baroda. Kartik made his first overseas appearance for India, replacing the injured Harbhajan midway through the 2003–04 tour of Australia. He had little success in his first tour match, taking 1/64 and 1/53 against Australia A. He played in the final Test at the
Sydney Cricket Ground when India fielded two spinners for the only time in the series. He was punished by the Australian batsmen, taking a total of 1/211 from 45 overs, a
run rate of 4.68 in a high-scoring draw. Kartik started the 2004–05 season by scoring 56 and 16 and taking 2/42 and 2/49 as Rest of India defeated Mumbai in the Irani Trophy, but it was not enough to prevent Harbhajan from resuming his position in the team for the home Test series against Australia. He got an opportunity in the Third Test in
Nagpur, when Harbhajan was ill, taking 3/57 and 2/74 as India lost by 342 runs to lose their first home series to Australia since 1969–70. Kartik held his place when Harbhajan returned for the final Test in Mumbai as India fielded three spinners, and took 4/44 and 3/32 in a man of the match performance which saw India win by 13 runs. Both of these performances occurred under the captaincy of
Rahul Dravid with Ganguly injured, in which Kartik netted his wickets at an average of 17.50 compared to 51.08 under Ganguly's leadership. Kartik played the last of his eight Tests in a subsequent opening match against South Africa in
Kanpur, taking a total of 2/93 under Ganguly's command, only to be dropped after India chose to only use two spinners in the subsequent matches. taking 2/28 and scoring a duck in a 15-run defeat. He made his debut as the county club's 700th first-class cricketer against
Somerset at Taunton in April 2007. He took 51 wickets at 24.96 in 12 matches and agreed to sign on for a further season in 2008. A highlight of Kartik's stint was a haul of 6/21 and 3/52 that helped set up an innings win over
Glamorgan, and 6/85 and 3/83 that secured a 38-run win over Leicestershire. A third five-wicket haul, 5/38 against
Derbyshire, was not enough to prevent a 15-run defeat. He played his first ODI in 18 months when he returned for the fourth match at
Mohali. He took 1/48, Kartik took only one wicket in the next two matches, which Australia won. Kartik then made his T20 international debut, taking 0/27 from four overs in an Indian win over Australia. Due to his international commitments, Kartik made only sporadic appearances during the Indian domestic scene in 2007–08. He took nine wickets at 44.22 and scored 77 runs at 19.25 in three first-class fixtures. After being dropped from India's limited-overs team, Kartik continued his strong one-day form at domestic level, taking six wickets at 25.33 at an economy rate of only 3.16 in six matches. He played in six matches, taking three wickets at 42.33, but was dropped because his economy rate was beyond eight runs an over. All of these came in one match in which he took 3/17. in 2010.Kartik was part of the Middlesex team that won the
2008 Twenty20 Cup in England, their first domestic title for 15 years. He played in 11 matches and took 14 wickets at 20.14 at an economy rate of 6.71, claiming at least one wicket in all but one of the matches. During the 2009–10 Indian season, Kartik played in seven matches for Railways in the Ranji Trophy, taking 17 wickets at 25.05 including a best of 5/81 against Mumbai. He also scored 44 against the team and ended with 97 runs at 12.12 for the season. However his figures were not enough to gain selection for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. As of 2020, he is currently a cricket commentator, working on
Star Sports coverage of India home games and the
Indian Premier League. ==References==