Farewell, DK!

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Coach Andy Flower reckons that Dinesh Karthik has 'possibly' played his last game in the IPL.

The former India wicket-keeper had a fruitful IPL 2024 with RCB, scoring 326 runs in 15 matches at an average of 36.22. He got those runs at a scorching rate of 187.36.

In an IPL career that spanned over 16 years, Karthik featured for six franchises scoring 4,842 runs in 257 matches, hitting 22 fifties.

He started his career at the Delhi Daredevils and three seasons later, he moved to Kings XI Punjab.

He played for the Mumbai Indians in 2012-2013 before heading back to Delhi. In 2015 he was bought by RCB, before playing for the now defunct Gujarat Lions for two seasons.

2018 to 2021, he plied his trade at the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he also served as captain with limited success.

In 2022, he returned to RCB where he regained his touch and went on to pile on some big runs for the franchise.

Following RCB's loss to the Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator on Wednesday, Karthik hugged Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson and Virat Kohli, before receiving a guard of honour from his RCB team-mates.

'Possibly (played his last IPL match). He's been an absolute pleasure to work with this year,' Flower said.

'He hadn't played a lot of cricket leading into this tournament and what he's done for us, runs wise, attitude wise and contributing to the team in the dressing room and out on the field has been really special and I respect him for it,' Flower added.

The former Zimbabwe captain said DK may take up coaching once he officially calls time on his career.

'He's a brilliant commentator already and he quite likes the idea of coaching as well and working with and helping other people,' Flower said, 'which I'm not surprised about, and I think he'll be a great success when he does that as well.'

• IPL 2024