Former India cricket Dinesh Karthik made interesting revelations about some of his banters with his Indian teammates during the Indian Premier League (IPL). He revealed how Virat Kohli used to give him send-offs and how Hardik Pandya sledged him disrespectfully. 

As Royal Challengers Bengaluru were eliminated from the IPL 2024 after a loss to Rajasthan Royals in Eliminator, it marked an end to Dinesh Karthik’s glorious career in the league. The keeper-batter played in all the 17 editions of the league and was one of the finest to have played the game. 

Dinesh Karthik played some incredible knocks for his franchises in the league and is among the most loved cricketers in the country. The keeper-batter was mostly known for his calm and composed nature on the field and his ability to soak in all the pressure. 

Over the years in the league, Dinesh Karthik was involved in some of the hilarious banters with a few of his Indian teammates. As he called time on his career, he decided to speak up about a few during his interaction with Cricbuzz on Wednesday (29th May).

Dinesh Karthik first while talking about Virat Kohli stated that whenever he played against RCB, the batter always used to give him the ‘Ben Stokes‘ send-off. The keeper-batter then revealed how Hardik Pandya once sledged him using the leg-spinner jibe and then also took a dig at him over his commentary stint. He stated: 

“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…” Dinesh Karthik 

Dinesh Karthik further revealed some of the more incidents, recalling how India captain Rohit Sharma taunted him over his place for the World Cup. He added: 

“Rohit Sharma this year taunting me… unnecessarily giving me hope. [laughs] I’ve had mostly cheeky conversations… I think I told Maxwell once: ‘They call him the Big Show but I think it’s going to be a short show, boys”.

Playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2024, Dinesh Karthik gave his best with the bat. The keeper-batter played the finisher’s role to perfection and scored 326 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 187.36. He was one of the main reasons behind the team’s comeback in the league. Karthik will now be joining the commentary panel for the T20 World Cup 2024.