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Veteran wicketkeeper-batter signalled Dinesh Karthik hinted he might have played his last Indian Premier League match after RCB lost the IPL 2024 Eliminator to Rajasthan on Wednesday. Karthik took off his gloves and acknowledged the applause from the crowd after the heartbreaking defeat in the playoffs match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
IPL 2024 Eliminator, RR vs RCB: Highlights | Scorecard
38-year-old Dinesh Karthik shared an emotional embrace with Virat Kohli after Rovman Powell hit the winning runs for Rajasthan in their successful chase of 173. Karthik is yet to officially confirm his retirement from the IPL after having stressed quite a few times throughout the season that IPL 2024 might be his last as a player.
In fact, Virat Kohli led the guard of honour for the veteran wicketkeeper-batter before trainer and good friend Shanker Basu welcomed him off the field.
Dinesh Karthik also got an emotional guard of honour from his RCB teammates before the players walked off the field after their 4-wicket defeat to the Royals. It was a heartbreaking evening for the RCB stars as their resurgent run came to a grinding halt. RCB were reeling at the bottom of the table midway through the season, winning only one out of the 8 matches. However, RCB sneaked through to the playoffs, winning six on the trot, which included a knockout punch to 5-time champions Super Kings.
Dinesh Karthik will finish his IPL career with 4842 runs in 257 matches, having hit 22 fifties. Karthik finished in the top 10 run-getters list in the history of the IPL.
Karthik continued to defy age in the IPL, especially after joining RCB. The wicketkeeper-batter juggled commentary commitments and his preparation for IPL as he was not a regular part of the senior national team after the T20 World Cup in 2022. In fact, Karthik’s incredible run in IPL 2022 with RCB (330 runs at a strike rate of 183) earned him a T20I recall and a place in the World Cup squad.
Karthik finished the IPL 2024 season with 326 runs in 15 matches, acing the finisher’s role once again. In fact, Karthik put himself back in the reckoning for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad. India captain Rohit Sharma even brought up Karthik’s chances jokingly during an episode of on-field banter with the veteran wicketkeeper.
Karthik, however, did not get picked in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the USA and the West Indies from June 1.
The wicket-keeper batter has represented six teams throughout his IPL career. He started off with Delhi Daredevils in 2008 before moving to Punjab in 2011. He spent the following two seasons with Mumbai before going back to Delhi in 2014. RCB bagged him in 2015 and he played for Gujarat Lions in 2016 and 2017 before spending four seasons with KKR, whom he led as well. Karthik returned to RCB in 2022 and aced the finisher’s role to perfection.
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