Dinesh Karthik played his final Test for India at Lord's during the 2018 tour.
Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik shared an interesting tidbit about his final Test for India at Lord’s in 2018. He is one of the few Indian cricket players who has made several comebacks throughout his career. The wicketkeeper-batter never said never.
His 2018 comeback to Test cricket after an eight-year absence was not as effective as the majority of his comebacks. After regular stumper Wriddhiman Saha was sidelined, Karthik pushed his way back into the Test team thanks to his fantastic white-ball returns and a steady run with the bat for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket.
He participated in three Test matches, two in England and one at home against Afghanistan. In five innings, he scored just 25 runs, including two ducks.
India decided to give teenage keeper-batter Rishabh Pant his Test debut following four defeats in Birmingham and at Lord's. Pant solidified his position as the specialist keeper-batter by hitting a century in the fourth Test at the Oval.
Karthik's time in red-ball cricket ended with the second Test of that 2018 tour of England at Lord's. His Test career ended in 2018; however, he did make two further appearances in white-ball cricket.
Karthik recalled his last performance in the Indian whites at Lord's before the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
The former India keeper-batter, who retired last year, claimed that then-Indian head coach Ravi Shastri told him he was done during an interview with SKY Sports that featured Karthik, Ravi Shastri, Nasser Hussain, and Michael Atherton.
"There's not much in common between me and Nass and I'd like to keep it that way. He finished at Lord's. I finished at Lord's. The only difference was that he went and knocked on the coach's doors, saying I think I'm done. In my case, the coach came in and said, 'Don't bother coming in the next Test, you are done," Karthik said on Sky Sports discussion, followed by hearty laughs from the panelists.
Shastri, who was sitting right beside Karthik, tapped the 40-year-old on his shoulders.
Here is the video:
Following former England captain Nasser Hussain's account of his 2004 retirement, Karthik made his remarks. In the Test match against New Zealand at Lord's, Hussain struck a century in the second innings. Andrew Strauss, one of England's best opening batsmen, also made his debut.
"I knew I was gone. Strauss came in for that game, and Michael Vaughan was injured. I went to my old coach, Duncan Fletcher, I worked with him for four years. I knocked on his door and said, "Dunc, tomorrow's gonna be my last day. In the hope that Duncan would say, 'Nass, you're playing pretty well' but he went, 'No, tomorrow is going to be your last day.' I said, 'Thanks, coach.’
Strauss was getting loads of runs; he was looking like he would get a hundred in both innings. I got him run out. I got one of my best mates at the other end. I hit it through the covers and got a hundred. We beat New Zealand. That's a decent way to go out. Vaughan came back in. Strauss, we knew, was a superb Test cricket,” Hussain added.