Dinesh Karthik, the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman, will play his final IPL season this year for Royal Challengers Bangalore over the next two months. Karthik, who will turn 39 in June, will also make a final decision soon on his international future.
Karthik began his IPL career with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and is one of only seven players to have participated in every season of the IPL since its inception in 2008, alongside MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, and Manish Pandey. Impressively, Karthik has missed only two matches in 16 seasons.
He scored his first century in his debut season against Kolkata Knight Riders, and his second century was in 2023 when Karthik was absent for the league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Karthik had a poor 2023 IPL season with the bat, scoring only 140 runs overall with an average of just over 11. This was in stark contrast to his stellar 2022 season, the year in which Royal Challengers bought Karthik at the auction for INR 5.5 crore (US$ 662,000 approx.). Karthik mainly played the role of the finisher, for which he trained diligently on his power-hitting pre-season. He scored 330 runs in 16 matches at an average of 55 and an explosive strike-rate of 183.33. Karthik played a crucial role in the Royal Challengers' journey to the playoffs that season, although they eventually exited in the second qualifier.
Karthik's scorching IPL form earned him a berth in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. However, in India's semi-final defeat to eventual champions England, he managed just 14 runs in three innings.
Currently, in his second stint with Royal Challengers, Karthik had previously played a single season with them in 2015. In total, Karthik has played for six IPL teams: starting with 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). Across 240 matches, Karthik has scored 4516 runs at an average of nearly 26, striking at over 132 with 20 half centuries. As a wicket-keeper, Karthik is second on the list behind Dhoni in overall dismissals (133) as well as stumpings (36).
Karthik, an established captain in Tamil Nadu, has also led in the IPL. He served as a stand-in skipper on six occasions for Daredevils and captained Knight Riders in 37 matches between 2018-20 before stepping down. His captaincy record shows 21 wins, 21 losses, and one tied match.
As he prepares to retire from cricket as a player, Karthik has already settled into what is considered a second career. In 2021, while continuing to play, Karthik also began working as a pundit for the inaugural World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand and then at the Hundred. He is now an established broadcaster, currently providing commentary for the India-England Test series.
The Royal Challengers will play the tournament opener against defending champions Chennai Super Kings on March 23 at their home ground in Chepauk.