India veteran cricketer Dinesh Karthik hinted his IPL retirement after Royal Challengers Bengaluru lost the eliminator against Rajasthan Royals at Narendra Modi Sadium in Ahmedabad. RCB wicketkeeper batter received guard of honour from his teammates before the players walked off the field. Karthik debuted in the inagural season of IPL in 2008 for Delhi Daredevils now Delhi Capitals has scored 4,842 runs in 257 matches. In the ongoing IPL 2024 season he scored 326 runs in 15 games at an average of 36.22 including two half-centuries.
Andy Flower on Dinesh Karthik
RCB head coach Andy Flower also hinted that this will be Karthik's last IPL season as a cricketer. Flower reckoned that the veteran wicketkeeper batter will going to be super successful in whatever he want to do. Flower revealed that Karthik likes the idea of coaching.
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“He hadn't played a lot of cricket, leading into the tournament. What he has done for us -- runs-wise, attitude-wise -- has been really special. I respect him for that. He is going to be super successful in whatever he goes on to. He is a brilliant commentator already. He quite likes the idea of coaching as well -- helping and working with other people which I am not surprised about. He will be a great success when he does that as well. I also think he might play a few more little tournaments along the way,” said Flower in the post-match press conference.
Flower revealed his experience with Karthik when he was England's coach and Dinesh was representing India at Lord's.
“He was an absolute pleasure to work with this year. I have never worked that closely with him before. I remember meeting him probably when I was England's coach and he was playing for India at Lord's. We had some really interesting chats about batting. I really liked him from the outset then. After working with him this season, I really like him more and respect him even more. He has been sensational,” he added.
Dinesh Karthik on RCB's loss vs RR
Karthik also opened up after RCB's loss to RR in the eliminator.
"With sports, there is no fairytale ending. There is always a hard day when things do not go your way. It was that day. As it is in the evening games, dew came and it became easy to bat on. But still, we should be proud of the fight we put up. That is all we can ask for. Attitude matters. The belief in wanting to do something special matters. On both counts, RCB had a really special season. A season where a lot of people will look at and say 'Wow, good effort'. We are proud of ourselves and I also hope fans are also proud of us for what we have done this year," said Dinesh.
Rajasthan Royals will now face Sunrisers Hyderabad for the Qualifier clash which will take place on May 24 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and the winner of that clash will face Kolkata Knight Riders in the final which will be played on May 26 at the same venue.
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