Dinesh Karthik is nearing the end of his IPL career. The IPL season starting on the 22nd of this month will be the last IPL of his career. Karthik will play for Royal Challengers Bangalore in this season.
Cricket website Cricinfo reported that 39-year-old Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Karthik will soon announce his retirement from international cricket.
Karthik has played in all 16 seasons of the IPL since its inception in 2008. He has missed only two matches in these seasons. Out of these, one against Kolkata Knight Riders for Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural season, and the last one against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2023 season.
Like Karthik, there are 6 other Indian cricketers who have not missed a single season of the IPL so far. These 6 cricketers are – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey.
Royal Challengers will play their first match against Chennai Super Kings on March 23. Karthik will start the IPL 2024 season with this match.
Karthik has played for 6 franchises in his 16-year IPL career. The franchises are – Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Karthik has played 240 matches for these teams. He has scored 4,516 runs with 20 half-centuries at an average of about 26. However, the last season was not good for Karthik. He scored 140 runs at an average of a little over 11.
