An emotional Dinesh Karthik took off his gloves and walked around the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday night, acknowledging the applause from the crowd. He was given a guard of honour by his teammates at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, indicating that this was the end of his long sojourn in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Though there was no formal announcement from the cricketer nor the franchise about his possible retirement, RCB coach Andy Flower admitted that Karthik has ‘possibly’ played his final game.
“He has been an absolute pleasure to work with. I have never worked with him that closely before. I remember meeting him properly when I was the England coach, and he was playing for India. We had some really interesting chats about batting at Lord’s and I really liked him then,” Flower said.
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“After working with him this season, I like him and respect him even more. He has been sensational. He hadn’t played a lot of cricket leading up to the tournament and what he has done for us - runs wise, attitude wise and contributing to the team in the dressing room and on the field - has been really special and I respect him for that,” he added.
Before the tournament got underway, Karthik had indicated that he would take a call on his career post the IPL. While he is now a noted commentator and also dons the coaching hat at times, Flower believes that Karthik will be ‘super successful in whatever endeavours he goes on to’.
“He is a brilliant commentator already, and I think he quite likes the idea of coaching as well, working with and helping people which I’m not surprised about. I think he will be a great success when he does that,” Flower said, adding, “I also think he might play just a few more little tournaments along the way. Lots of respect to him…”
Having been part of the tournament since its inception in 2008, Karthik featured in 257 matches and scored 4,842 runs at an average of 26.32. In the past, he has also captained Kolkata Knight Riders before moving on to the Bengaluru outfit.
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