‘Unless you are Shahid Afridi’ - Dinesh Karthik takes sly dig at Shahid Afridi amid retirement rumours

Veteran Indian batter Dinesh Karthik, who represents Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL (Indian Premier League), recently hinted at retiring from the sport. Karthik’s contract with RCB will come to an end after the IPL 2024, as the mega auction will take place in 2025.

In a recent interview, Karthik came forward to speak about his future in the sport and even took a sly dig at former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi for taking multiple retirements and coming back to play. 

Karthik opined that his career, just like everyone's, has to come to an end. He reflected on how he felt good in the earlier stages of the IPL 2024 but compared it to how bad he felt at the DY Patil Tournament. 

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"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 said  on the SKY Sports Cricket Podcast with Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton.

Furthermore, Dinesh Karthik opined that unless one is Shahid Afridi, once you retire, it is done and final and there is no coming back. He also revealed the regrets that he would have from his career.

"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.