Name	Murali Kartik
Height	6' 0"
Naionality	Indian
Date of Birth	11 September 1976
Place of Birth	Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Famous for	Cricket

He was recalled in late-2003 for limited overs matches and played in around half of India's matches for a sic-month period, as well as one Test after Harbhajan suffered a serious injury. In late-2004 Kartik played in three Tests as India fielded three spinners, and claimed his only man-of-the-match award in Tests against Australia in Mumbai, but was again dropped two matches later. He broke into their Under-16 team in December 1992, and took a match total of 10/74 on debut against Himachal Pradesh, as well as scoring 52 not out in an innings victory. In five matches for his new team during the 1994 95, he took 24 wickets at 14.58 including a haul of 5/28 against Vidarbha. He took another five-wicket haul later in the season against Rajasthan and ended the competition with 38 wickets at 18.94 in seven matches. After the final, newly-crowned champions took on the Rest of India, and Kartik took 2/25 and 4/89 to help his team to a six-wicket victory. Kartik had a less successful time in the zonal one-dayers for Central, taking only one wicket in three matches. In his first match, a List A fixture against Madhya Pradesh, Kartik took 2/27 from his allotment of ten overs but was unable to prevent a four-wicket loss. He ended the season with 16 wickets at 19.37, and 185 runs at 20.55 including a 74 against Bengal, but was overlooked for the Central Zone selection for the Duleep Trophy after taking only six wickets in his last four matches for the season. In four one-dayers for Railways, Kartik took seven wickets at 12.42, including a match-winning 4/13 against Rajasthan. After taking a match total of 7/74 in helping to orchestrate an innings victory over Rajasthan in his third match of the season, Kartik went wicketless in the next match against Madhya Pradesh, and was dropped. He took two wickets at 63.00 in two first-class matches, and then took three wickets at 43.00 at an economy rate of 4.30 in three matches. In four first-class matches, which were persistently curtailed by the weather, Kartik bowled only 31 overs, and only two in the two matches against Pakistan A. At the start of the 1998 99 season, Kartik took 23 wickets for Vijay Cricket Club in the Chennai League. 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. In four first-class matches in the Caribbean, Kartik took 18 wickets at 16.38. This included two matches against West Indies A, in which he took 6/75 before claiming 3/64 and 5/73 in the second match, although he was unable to force a victory in either. In two one-day matches against their West Indian counterparts, Kartik took two wickets at 26.00 at an economy rate of 3.46. Returning to India, he took 12 wickets at 13.08 in five matches for Railways and the Indian Board President's XI, before playing in the zonal one-dayers with less success, managing only two wickets at 91.50 at an economy rate of 4.57. Despite the downturn in his limited overs fortunes towards the end of the season, Kartik's form was enough to earn him selection in the Indian Board President's XI for the tour match against the visiting South Africans before the Tests. He managed a match total of only 2/122, but this was enough for him to secure national selection, playing in both Tests against South Africa in early-2000 at Mumbai and Bangalore as India sought a second spinner to accompany Anil Kumble, after Harbhajan Singh's performance in the role in the previous season had been deemed inadequate. In the Second Test, Kartik took 3/123 and scored a duck and two as India were crushed by an innings. Kartik then took 3/82 and 1/45 against Madhya Pradesh to secure his spot in the Test team. Kartik then played in one Test against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe respectively in India, taking match totals of 1/42 and 2/66.

Kartik took nine wickets at 25.22 at an economy rate of 4.02, and then had a chance to stake his claims for a Test recall in the Duleep Trophy. Kartik played in one more match for Railways at the end of the season, and his poor season continued, managing only a total of 2/152, although he did score 79 with the bat. Kartik started the new 2001 02 season well, taking 20 wickets at 15.40 in the first four first-class matches of the season, including five-wicket hauls against Rajasthan and Vidarbha, and 3/84 against the touring English Test team for a Board President's XI, but this was not enough to force the selectors to recall him for the Tests. He continued his form for Railways in the one-dayers, taking seven wickets at 20.57 in four matches at an economy rate of 4.00, before suffering a serious back injury that forced him to travel to Adelaide for treatment, which was funded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. He managed to make a successful comeback in January after a month-long layoff, and ended as fourth highest wicket taker in the Ranji Trophy, with 34 at an average of 17, taking 5/51 and 3/7, and scoring 69 in his final match of the season to secure a win over Baroda. At the end of the season, Kartik was rewarded with his debut in One Day Internationals (ODIs); he was punished by the Zimbabwean batsmen, conceding 47 runs without taking a wicket from eight overs, but India still managed to win by five wickets. Fringe player Since then, Kartik was India's third choice Test spinner behind Kumble and Harbhajan for most of the decade, only playing due to their injuries or when India selected three spinners. He struggled in the first two first-class matches, before taking 6/101 and scoring 59 in the second match against South Africa A to end the three games with ten wickets at 32.50. The West Indies toured India at the start of the 2002 03 season and Kartik had a chance to press his claims for Test selection in two tour matches against the visitors. Kartik did have opportunities in the ODI format following his strong form in domestic limited overs matches, playing in four consecutive matches against the West Indies. After going wicketless in the first of these matches, he broke through in the next match to take his maiden ODI wicket in his third appearance. Kartik then took 3/36 in the next match as India scraped home by three wickets, but he was punished in his fourth outing of the series, conceding 69 runs in nine overs without success, after which he was dropped. Kartik was called into the Test squad to tour New Zealand in late 2002 after Kumble withdrew, but in the warm-up match he bowled one only over, in which he was hammered for 23 runs.

Kartik returned to India and was ineffective in the zonal one-dayers, taking a total of 1/148 from 24 overs in three matches, conceding more than a run a ball. While the World Cup was in progress, Kartik toured the West Indies with India A, playing against the domestic teams in five first-class matches. India A then toured England during the northern hemisphere summer and Kartik took 10 wickets at 40.00 and scored 79 runs at 26.33 including a 50 in four first-class matches, and three wickets at 44.33 in one-dayers. At the start of the 2003 04 season, Kartik took 2/118 and 2/41 for India A in a match against the touring New Zealanders, and was overlooked for the Test series against the visitors. Occasional international appearances in 2004 and 2005 After taking match figures of 6/117 and 5/140 for India A against Sri Lanka A, Kartik made his first overseas appearance for India, replacing the injured Harbhajan midway through the 2003 04 tour of Australia. Kartik then made sporadic appearances in the VB triangular ODI series, playing in four of India's ten matches, as he and Kumble were brought in and out of the team in an attempt to challenge the Australian superiority. Kartik started the 2004 05 season by scoring 56 and 16 and taking 2/42 and 2/49 as the 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.

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. 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, being dropped after India chose to only use two spinners in subsequent matches. Kartik returned to India and took seven wickets at 35.42 at an economy rate of 4.69 in the zonal one-dayers and Challenger Trophy, and then played four first-class matches to end the season, taking 10 wickets at 19.10.

He then took seven wickets at 16.85 at an economy rate of 4.56 in three matches for India Seniors in the Challenger Trophy, including a match-winning 5/29 in the final against India B. Kartik took 5/95 against Mumbai and then 8/40 against Delhi, and in three Ranji Trophy matches took 17 wickets at 19.94. Despite his ineffectiveness against South Africa, Kartik was retained in the ODI squad, but after conceding 64 runs from nine overs in the first ODI loss against Pakistan, he was replaced in early-2006 in the Test and ODI squad by 17-year-old legspinner Piyush Chawla and off-spinner Ramesh Powar respectively. Kartik took four wickets at 34.00 and an economy rate of 5.36 in the Challenger Trophy and could not earn a recall. He had a steady domestic first-class season, taking 26 wickets at 25.53 in nine matches, never taking more than five wickets in a match. He scored three fifties with a best of 83 against Colne and took nine five-wicket innings hauls including a best of 9/30 against Enfield in addition to two other matches in which he took seven wickets. He took 83 wickets at 9.19 and scored 519 runs at 37.07 in 20 matches.

Eventually in August 2006, he was again signed as a late-season overseas player for Lancashire just in time to appear in the C Kartik took only 16 wickets at 34.06 in seven matches, with a best of 4/101 against Derbyshire. Kartik returned to India and took 16 wickets at 32.75 in six matches for Railways in the Ranji Trophy. After taking 5/85 in the first innings of the season opener against Karnataka, his performances fell away and he managed only four wickets in his last three matches. Kartik made some contributions with the bat, scoring 197 runs at 24.62 for the season, including a score of 56 against Maharashtra and two other efforts of 30.

Playing for both Railways and Central, Kartik took 12 wickets at 23.50 in the one-day matches for the season. During the 2009 IPL season, which was held in South Africa, Kartik played in ten matches and took four wickets at 50.25, but he was one of the most economical bowlers, conceding only 5.91 runs per over. In the 2009 English season, Kartik resumed service for Middlesex, and as in the IPL he was most effective as a stock bowler, taking only four wickets at 51.50 in eight T20 fixtures at an economy rate of 6.86, never taking multiple wickets in a match.

Kartik played in ten first-class matches for Middlesex, taking 33 wickets at 22.87. He took his season's innings best of 5/65 and then 2/26 in the season opener against cross-London rivals Surrey, and then took 3/32 and 4/53 in a hard-fought 47-run win over Kent, and a total of 6/139 in the next match against Essex, but his season fell away at the end, managing only six wickets in the last three 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.