Former India star cricketer Dinesh Karthik during a conversation with Nasser Hussain revealed how Men in Blue's then-head coach Ravi Shastri's one sentence brought a halt to ex-wicketkeeper-batter's career.
Dinesh Karthik, who is currently playing his trade as a cricket commentator and is also part of the commentary panel in the ongoing Test series between India and England, repeatedly fought his way back into the Indian team at various points as his career which was synonymous with remarkable comebacks. For the resilient wicketkeeper-batter, the door to a return was never truly closed. While many of his resurgences were successful, his 2018 comeback to Test cricket after an eight-year absence proved to be an exception. He earned this recall following spectacular form in white-ball cricket and consistent domestic performances for Tamil Nadu, stepping in for the injured regular wicketkeeper, Wriddhiman Saha.
How Ravi Shastri's one statement ended Dinesh Karthik's Test career
However, this return to the Test arena was short-lived and unsuccessful. In the three matches he played, one against Afghanistan and two in England, Karthik managed only 25 runs across five innings, which included two ducks. After struggling in the first two Tests in England at Birmingham and Lord's, the team management decided to give a debut to the young Rishabh Pant. Pant seized the opportunity, scoring a century in the fourth Test at the Oval and cementing his position as the primary wicketkeeper-batter for the team.
The second Test of that 2018 England tour at Lord's ultimately marked the end of Karthik's red-ball career. Although he would go on to make two more comebacks in limited-overs cricket, his journey in Test whites concluded there. He finished his Test career with 1025 runs in 26 matches, with his sole century coming against Bangladesh in 2007.
Seven years later, Karthik finds himself back in England, not as a player, but as a member of the broadcasting team. Ahead of the third Test at Lord's, the same venue as his final appearance, Karthik reflected on that chapter of his career. Speaking on a SKY Sports podcast with Ravi Shastri, Nasser Hussain, and Michael Atherton, the recently retired cricketer revealed how his career ended. He said it was Ravi Shastri, who had informed him that his time in the Test side was over.
The discussion of career endings was initiated by former England captain Nasser Hussain, who recounted the story of his retirement in 2004. Hussain shared that he scored a century in the second innings of his final Test match against New Zealand at Lord's, a game that also marked the debut of one of England's most celebrated opening batters, Andrew Strauss.
"There's not much in common between me and Nass and I'd like to keep it that way. He finished at Lord's. I finished at Lord's. The only difference was that he went and knocked on the coach's doors, saying I think I'm done. In my case, the coach came in and said, 'Don't bother coming in the next Test, you are done," Karthik said during a podcast for SKY Sports.
The 40-year-old played 26 Tests for India and amassed 1025 runs riding on a ton and seven fifties.