India leg-spinner Karn Sharma has announced his retirement from international and Indian domestic cricket at the age of 38. The Railways spinner made this revelation on Saturday night, after a UP T20 league match between Kanpur Superstars and Meerut Mavericks.
Karn will bid adieu to all Indian cricket after his team’s last game of the Lucknow leg on August 25. Karn finishes with four IPL trophies to his name and played one Test, two ODIs and one T20I in a short international career in 2014.
"I now want to retire... I am extremely grateful to my family, BCCI, Railways, UPCA, Andhra, Vidarbha Cricket Association and everyone who has supported me throughout this journey. After this, I will be available for coaching and other responsibilities related to the game of cricket,” Karn Sharma announced, as per Cricinfo.
Karn Sharma made his India domestic debut in 2007 across formats, playing for Vidarbha and Railways. He picked 270 wickets in 97 FC matches, 153 List-A wickets in 123 games and 168 wickets in 191 T20 games.
Karn Sharma made his India international debut in 2014 across formats. His only T20I came against England in Birmingham, while his ODI debut came in the famous game where Rohit Sharma slammed 264 runs against Sri Lanka in Eden Gardens in Kolkata. His only Test came during the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia in the Adelaide Test.
His IPL debut came in 2009 for RCB, but he played the majority of his career for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He picked 83 wickets in 90 IPL games at an economy of 8.38 with best bowling figures of 4/16.
In 2018, Karn became the first player to win three IPL titles in a row, joining Suyash Sharma and Phil Salt on the short list. His achievement was exceptional in that he completed it with three separate teams: SRH (2016), Mumbai Indians (2017), and Chennai Super Kings (2018).
Karn's last IPL game was in 2025 with MI, and he was part of the Railways team across formats in the 2025-26 domestic season.
