Dinesh Karthik retires from all forms of competitive cricket on his 39th birthday

Chennai: Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of competitive cricket after two decades of playing for the country. While his retirement was on the cards after Royal Challengers Bengaluru's ouster from the IPL Eliminator, Karthik chose his 39th birthday to make his decision official.

"Having given plenty of thought for sometime now, I have decided to move on from playing competitive cricket. I officially announce my retirement and put my playing days behind me as I square up for the new challenges that lie ahead", Karthik wrote on 'X'.

Having represented the country in 180 games across three formats in which he scored 3463 runs with a lone Test hundred and 17 half-centuries, Karthik also had 172 dismissals to his credit, most of them behind the stumps with a few in the outfield.

He first walked into public imagination with his airborne stumping of Michael Vaughan in England under Sourav Ganguly in 2004 and last played for India in 2022 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma.

In between, he had played under Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

"I'd like to thank all my coaches, captains, selectors and members of the support staff, who have made this long journey pleasant and enjoyable", he wrote.