Indian player Dinesh Karthik on Saturday announced retirement from all forms of cricket. Karthik took to his official social media handles to confirm the news to his followers. Karthik chose the occasion of his 39th birthday to retire from the sport. 

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Dinesh Karthik announces retirement from all forms of cricket

Dinesh Karthik last played a competitive game in the IPL 2024 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). It was a bittersweet moment for RCB, as they were eliminated from the competition. Despite the disappointment, RCB players gave Dinesh Karthik a guard of honor, knowing it was the final match of his career.

Dinesh Karthik will now transition to a new role as a commentator. He is part of the commentary panel for the T20 World Cup 2024, which will be held in the USA and West Indies. Karthik has prior experience in commentary, having juggled this role for the past several years while intermittently playing the game. Here's what Karthik said as he announced his retirement on June 1.

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"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'.

"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.

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.

(With PTI inputs)