Dinesh Karthik Announces Retirement Plans After IPL 2024: Reports

Reports suggest that Dinesh Karthik is poised to make his last appearance in the upcoming IPL season. The seasoned Indian wicketkeeper , who holds the distinction of being one of the seven players to have participated in every IPL edition since its inception in 2008, is gearing up for his final hurrah with the Royal Challengers Bangalore . Following this stint, Karthik is likely to assess his future in international cricket , according to ESPN Cricinfo .

Karthik presently stands as the league's tenth highest run-scorer, having amassed 4516 runs throughout his IPL career. Impressively, he trails only behind MS Dhoni (250) and Rohit Sharma (243) in terms of the most appearances in IPL history, featuring in a total of 242 matches. Remarkably, the 39-year-old has missed just two matches over the past 16 IPL seasons.

In terms of wicketkeeping statistics, Karthik is second only to Dhoni (180) with 169 dismissals. His IPL journey began with the now-defunct Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural season. He captained the Delhi franchise for six games as a stand-in skipper and subsequently led the Kolkata Knight Riders in 37 matches from 2018 to 2020.

During the last IPL season, representing RCB, Karthik had a subdued performance, scoring 140 runs in 13 matches at an average of 11.67. However, in the preceding season of 2022, Karthik excelled as a finisher, amassing 330 runs at an impressive average of 55.00 in 16 matches, significantly contributing to RCB's journey to the playoffs. His stellar performance even earned him a recall to the Indian squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

Karthik's IPL journey has seen him represent six different teams. He began with Delhi Daredevils from 2008 to 2010 before moving to Kings XI Punjab in 2011. Subsequently, he played for Mumbai Indians in 2012 and 2013, followed by a return to Delhi Daredevils in 2014, then joining Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2015. He later represented the Gujarat Lions for two seasons from 2016 to 2017 before moving to Kolkata Knight Riders from 2018 to 2021. His final stint in the IPL came with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2022.