Veteran Indian cricket team wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik hinted at a possible retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the end of the ongoing 2024 season. Karthik is currently playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but his contract will get over at the conclusion of this season as the competition will have a mega auction next. In a recent interaction, Karthik spoke at length about his possible future and even took a sly dig at former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi for his multiple retirements and comebacks.

“You know I have had this conversation with both of you at different points in time during my last stint in the UK on how you decide when to retire; is there something called a niceswon? It is coming to an end. It has come to an end. I did bat well in a couple of games. I felt good, which was very surprising. It is not easy mixing, broadcasting, and playing. I played the DY Patil Tournament and felt abysmal in it.”

Karthik also revealed the two big regrets of his IPL career – not being retained by Mumbai Indians in the 2014 season and the fact that he has never played for Chennai Super Kings despite being a local boy.

“Unless you are Shahid Afridi (on retirement), but in most cases, once it’s done, it’s done. How I look at it is, once you finish, do I regret anything or am I missing anything? I have a couple of regrets. One missed the opportunity to be retained by the Mumbai Indians. I think I missed the opportunity; they were keen on me not playing for the Super Kings because I am from Chennai. They have always bid for me but could never get me. I wish I could turn the clock back and change things,” Karthik said on the SKY Sports Cricket Podcast with Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton.

Karthik, who captained KKR from 2018-20, admitted that there were some “tough conversations” with spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who had to stay benched after taking just four wickets in nine games in the 2019 season.

The wicketkeeper-batter revealed that the spinner was not doing as well as he is right now and he had to be “honest” with Kuldeep. He expressed happiness at spinner’s progress since then, saying that he has become a better bowler and a “world-beater”. He expressed hope that Kuldeep, now a part of Delhi Capitals since 2022, is able to understand what Dinesh wanted to convey to him back then and there was nothing personal between them.

“Leading a franchise is altogether a different job. There are many other cultures, and you will find it challenging to deal with other individuals. You can be very honest with them. As a leader, you will lose out on certain friendships,” he said.

“During my time as KKR captain, Kuldeep (Yadav) was not doing as well as he is right now. There were tough conversations with him, and I don’t think he would have appreciated me at that stage. I have to be tough with him.”

“It was a hard time for Kuldeep. I think those tough times have made him a better bowler today. My bad luck is that I have to be a part of that bad phase in his life. I hope he understands what I did. I do not want him to appreciate it and be ok with it. You have to take decisions for the team and there was nothing personal,” concluded Karthik.

(With PTI inputs)