Tamil Nadu's Dinesh Karthik admitted he was surprised after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ignored him in the inaugural edition of the IPL back in 2008.

In an interaction with Harsha Bhogle on the Cricbuzz's chat show, the Tamil Nadu cricketer said he expected his home-based franchise to pick him in the auction. But CSK shocked him by going for MS Dhoni instead of him in the auction.

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“The first name I saw picked (by CSK in the first IPL auction) was MS Dhoni, for 1.5 million. He was sitting right down the corner from me. He didn’t even tell me a word that he was going to be picked by CSK. I guess he didn’t know, but that was the biggest dagger to my heart,” Karthik said.

“Then I thought they’re going to pick me later. But it’s been 13 years and I’m still waiting for the elusive call from CSK,” he added with a laugh.

Karthik played for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in the first three seasons. He was then picked by Kings XI Punjab in 2011. Mumbai Indians kept him with them for the next two seasons before he again moved to Delhi.

After one season with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and two with Gujarat Lions in 2016 and 2017, KKR bought him as replacement of Gautam Gambhir as captain.