Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru finisher Dinesh Karthik recalled funny banters with MI stars Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya as he brings the curtains down on his IPL career. The Tamil Nadu keeper-batter has been an integral part of KKR and RCB and has redefined and aced is role as a finisher. As Karthik takes a step back from active cricket, he recalls hilarious instances on field that includes a chirping Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya.
Dinesh Karthik’s banters with Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya
“Every time I played against RCB and Virat Kohli caught my catch, ‘Ben Stokes’ came out of his mouth for sure. But that was a send-off. Hardik Pandya sledged me saying ‘Abhi legspinner aaya, iska thank you hi hai’ [Now a legspinner will come and it is Thank You time] Then I had to play a couple of shots and then he was like ‘Theek hai, thoda improve hogaya lag raha hai’. [Looks like he’s improved a bit]. That was good. He’s a good friend. He was also like ‘Commentator banke bhi thoda kaam kar raha hai’. [Even after becoming a commentator, he’s working on his game] That was fun. Rohit Sharma this year taunting me… unnecessarily giving me hopes,” Dinesh Karthik told Cricbuzz.
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Dinesh Karthik’s IPL career, spanning an incredible 17 seasons, came to a close on May 22. It wasn’t the fairytale ending he might have envisioned, with RCB crashing out of IPL 2024 after a loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR). However, his contribution to the tournament over the years has been immense.
Karthik amassed a total of 4,842 runs at a strike rate of 135.36. While these are his overall IPL numbers, he completely reinvented himself on becoming the league’s best finisher, having struck at a rate of 184 and 187 in IPL 2022 and 2024, respectively.
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