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Dinesh Karthik
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of competitive cricket after two decades of playing for the country. While his retirement was on cards after Royal Challengers Bengaluru's ouster from the IPL Eliminator, Karthik chose his 39th birthday to make his decision official. "Having given plenty of thought for sometime now, I have decided to move on from playing competitive cricket. I officially announce my retirement and put my playing days behind me as I square up for the new challenges that lie ahead," Karthik wrote on 'X'. Having represented the country in 180 games across three formats in which he scored 3463 runs with a lone Test hundred and 17 half-centuries, Karthik also had 172 dismissals to his credit, most of them behind the stumps with a few in the outfield. He first walked into public imagination with his airborne stumping of Michael Vaughan in England under Sourav Ganguly in 2004 and last played for India in 2
Dinesh Karthik's international career was a classic case of what could have been after the arrival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni but on Wednesday, when he said goodbye to the game at the end of his team's IPL campaign, it was from a stage he made his own over the past 17 years. The Eliminator between his Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals ended up being Karthik's swansong, bringing down curtains on a 20-year-old career marked by a series of comebacks across formats. Twenty six Tests, 94 ODIs and 60 T20s over two decades don't make for eye-popping numbers but the forever fidgety 38-year-old managed to stay relevant till the very end despite spending more time in the commentary box than on the field over the past couple of years. Ahead of the T20 World Cup squad announcement, Karthik forced himself into the selection debate for the wicket-keeper batter's role with head-turning performances for RCB but that one final comeback wasn't meant to be as selectors rightly went for ...
Veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is pleased about getting some runs in the IPL opener despite getting limited game and preparation time going into the tournament due to his commentary commitments. Since the last IPL, the only competitive cricket Karthik played was in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He was on air in the recently concluded India-England Test series and admitted finding training time in between his commentary duties was tough. Karthik, who is playing his last IPL, made an unbeaten 38 off 26 balls to help RCB recover to 173 for six against CSK on Friday night. By his own admission, he was rusty in the middle. "It's been extremely challenging, doing a bit of commentary and to keep practising cricket between Test matches and in between the time that I get, it's been a lot of hard work. "So, I am happy that Game 1 has gone positively for me, and it feels good to score some runs," Karthik told reporters after the game. The 38-year-old is hoping that play-offs happen a
Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik will work with England Lions' as batting consultant for a brief period of nine days when the side will tour India. Karthik will be a part of the side's coaching team on the tour, starting with a warm-up game in Ahmedabad on January 12, followed by three unofficial four-day Tests from January 17 at the same venue. Karthik mainly comes in as a cover for Lions' batting consultant Ian Bell, who is currently on Big Bash League duty with Melbourne Renegades. He will be working alongside head coach Neil Killeen along with assistant coaches Richard Dawson and Carl Hopkinson, while former English spinner Graeme Swann would also be a part of the coaching team as a mentor. "It's great to have such a strong coaching group supporting our players for what should be an exciting challenge versus India A. The group has a deep and diverse set of experiences and expertise," said England Men's Performance Director Mo Bobat. "And it's fantastic to have Dinesh
India skipper Rohit Sharma wants to give wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik more time in the middle before the team heads Down Under for the T20 World Cup next month. Indian have been alternating between Karthik and Rishabh Pant in their playing XI. While the young keeper was given the nod ahead of the veteran player in the Asia Cup, Karthik was picked for all three matches against Australia. I wanted both of these guys to have a number of games under their belt before the World Cup. When we went to the Asia Cup both of these guys were in the fray to play all games," Rohit said at the post-match press conference after India clinched the three-match series against Australia on Sunday. But I just feel that Dinesh needs a little more game time. He hardly got to bat (this series). Just maybe three balls. So that's not enough time, Rohit added. Karthik faced seven balls in total against Australia, while Pant played only one game where he did not get a chance to bat. Pant also needs ga