He was not selected for international matches during his prime years due to the presence of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in the Indian squad.

[2] After starting out in the Delhi junior system, Murali moved through the age group ranks at Railways and was selected for the Indian Under-19 team.

In late 2007, Kartik broke back into the ODI team and took 6/27 in one victory over Australia, but lost form soon after and was again dropped.

He was rewarded for his performance with a selection into the Under-19 Central Zone team for the zonal one-day tournament, taking five wickets at an average of 25.00 in four matches.

[7] 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 had a match total of 2/122, which 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 the previous season had been deemed inadequate.

[19] 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.

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.

New captain Sourav Ganguly—who had taken over after Sachin Tendulkar resigned following the South African whitewash—did not show much confidence in him, only giving him short but frequent spells.

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.

[22] 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.

[19] Harbhajan was recalled and took 32 wickets at 17 to engineer an Indian series win and permanently establish himself as India's leading spinner alongside Kumble.

[7] 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[7] 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 ended as fourth-highest wicket taker in-the Ranji Trophy, with 34 at an average of 17,[23] taking 5/51 and 3/7 and scoring 69 in his final match of the season to secure a win over Baroda.

[7] Kartik was called into the Test squad to tour New Zealand in late 2002 after Kumble withdrew,[5] 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.

Combined with his results against the West Indies, the poor returns saw him left out of the 2003 Cricket World Cup squad, with Harbhajan and Kumble preferred.

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.

[7][19] 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.

[7][27] 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.

[19] Kartik spent the next month watching from the sidelines as the reserve slow bowler, as only Kumble and Harbhajan played during the tour of Bangladesh.

[7] He enjoyed more opportunities in the ODI arena in 2005, when Kumble was dropped by newly appointed coach Greg Chappell due to his lack of athleticism, as well as the introduction of the experimental rules which allowed the use of one substitute, thus opening an extra position in the team.

[7] Kumble remained in favour for the Tests along with Harbhajan, and Kartik returned to Ranji competition while they bowled against Sri Lanka in the five-dayers.

After losing a bilateral series in the West Indies due to his poor performance, they were knocked out of a triangular tournament in Malaysia ahead of the finals, and were eliminated in the first round of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy on home soil.

India were knocked out in the first round after losing to Bangladesh, and Harbhajan was dropped while Kumble retired from ODIs, but Kartik did not do enough to persuade the selectors to hand him a recall.

Eventually in August 2006, he was again signed as a late-season overseas player for Lancashire just in time to appear in the C&G Trophy final against Sussex,[28] taking 2/28 and scoring a duck in a 15-run defeat.

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.

[7] 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.

As of 2020, he is currently a cricket commentator, working on Star Sports coverage of India home games and the Indian Premier League.