Dinesh Karthik officially announces retirement from all forms of 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 said.

Dinesh Karthik made it official on Saturday. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The writing was on the wall when Karthik was given an emotional farewell by his IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after losing the Eliminator to the Rajasthan Royals. Karthik finally put the official stamp on it 10 days later.

Dinesh Karthik retires from all forms of cricket (AP)

“Having given it plenty of thought for some time now, I have decided to move on from playing representative 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 in a social media statement.

The RCB vs RR IPL Eliminator was the Tamil Nadu cricketer's last appearance in a competitive cricket tournament, ending a career that lasted two decades.

“I'd like to thank all my coaches, captains, selectors, teammates and members of the support staff who have made this long journey enjoyable. Among millions that play the sport in our country, I consider myself one of the luckiest to have had the chance to represent my country,” he added.

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 entered public imagination with his airborne stumping of Michael Vaughan in England under Sourav Ganguly in 2004 and last played for India in 2022 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma. In between, he had played under Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

While commentating on the India-England Test series in February-March, Karthik had made up his mind about retirement, but the world only learned this when Michael Atherton let it slip in a podcast with the Tamil Nadu stumper.

Karthik finished his IPL career with 4,842 runs in 257 matches (joint second-most with Rohit Sharma), studded with 22 fifties.

In his illustrious IPL career, which spanned over 17 years, Karthik played for six franchises in the cash-rich league. He made his debut in the inaugural season in 2008 with the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). He switched to Punjab in 2011 and went on to play for the Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions, Kolkata Knight Riders, and the RCB.

He ended the current season with 326 runs in 15 matches with an average of 36.22, and a strike rate of 187.36.