Dinesh Karthik to quit IPL before announcing international retirement: Reports

Veteran India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is set to end his IPL career after playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore this season, reported news agency PTI. The 17th season of IPL, which is set to begin on March 22 with the defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on RCB in Chennai, is likely to be Karthik's last. The 38-year-old is also likely to announce his retirement from international cricket soon.

Dinesh Karthik of Royal Challengers Bangalore(PTI)

"This 2024 edition will be his (Dinesh Karthik's) last IPL. He will decide his international retirement after the IPL," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

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Karthik last represented India in the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022 but he has been an integral part of the RCB set-up for the last two seasons after being bought for 5.5 crore at the auctions that year.

Karthik, who represented six franchises - Daredevils (2008-14), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings - 2011), Mumbai Indians (2012-13), Gujarat Lions (2016-17), Knight Riders (2018-21) and Royal Challengers (2015, 2022-present) - is one of the most capped players of IPL. With 242 appearances, he stands at No.3 in the list behind MS Dhoni (250) and Rohit Sharma (243). He has missed just two IPL games in his entire career which his franchise has been a part of.

Dinesh Karthik's IPL journey

Karthik is also among only seven cricketers to have featured in every single edition of IPL since its inception in 2008. The others are Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey.

Karthik has had quite a journey in the IPL. He started off with Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) in 2008 before moving to Kings XI Punjab in 2011. He spent the following two seasons with Mumbai Indians before going back to Delhi in 2014 for a price tag of a whopping ₹12.5 crore.

Royal Challengers signed him in 2015 for ₹10.5 crore and he then played for Gujarat Lions in 2016 and 2017 before spending four seasons with the Kolkata Knight Riders.

He has led the Kolkata side to IPL playoffs in 2018 and they finished fifth in the points table in 2019.

Ahead of the IPL 2022, Karthik was released by KKR and was bought by RCB for the second time for ₹5.5 crore. He had a stellar 2022 for RCB while mainly playing the role of a finisher.

Karthik made 330 runs in 16 matches at an average of 55 and an explosive strike-rate of 183.33 that year, a guiding force in RCB's march to the play-offs.

That run earned Karthik a berth in the India squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 held in Australia but he could not shine as expected as Virat Kohli's side bowed out of semifinals after a defeat against eventual champions England.

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