Indian cricket might have seen the last of Dinesh Karthik on the field as a player. With the Royal Challengers Bengaluru losing out in the eliminator clash against Rajasthan Royals, emotions were high as the mood in the RCB indicated that DK might not be there next year. The franchise’s official handle on X (formerly known as Twitter) even uploaded a lengthy video in tribute to the iconic finisher.
The video had some important figures in DK’s cricketing careers, but none was more important than his wife, Dipika Pallikal Karthik who also featured in the 11-minute video where she revealed a lot about the veteran we all grew to love.
Dipika started off by explaining how DK always managed to reinvent himself and highlighted the key moment when things started to turn around for him when he met Abhishek Nayar, the current assistant coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. From her perspective, she thought that Dinesh was someone who truly enjoyed the last 5 years where he has revelled in his new role as the finisher.
“There’s been different DKs, over the last ten years that we’ve been together, I think every two years he tries to reinvent himself. And I feel like, as a wife also, I see that difference in him. Over the last four to five years, I think that’s when he’s really enjoyed the sport. The time when he met Abhishek Nayar, who’s obviously become family to us. I think he’s played such a big role, not just in his career, I think, in building him as a person as well,” she said.
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Dipika who is also an athlete herself, shared her perspective on what a retiring player might be going through and highlighted the most important part is to be happy with the amount of effort that he has put into his career and emphasised the need to be content in order to move on from the sport.
DK has suffered a lot in terms of his international career. Once considered India’s next big wicketkeeper-batter was stuck in the shadow of the legendary MS Dhoni and struggled to find a spot in the national side for quite some time. But Dipika revealed how DK was able to get back up and get back on the grind to put him back in contention.
“One of the things that I’ve really learned about him and his career is, well, if he. If he doesn’t do well, he’s dropped from the team. I think it’s just two or three days where he’s at a lul and then he’s back on his feet thinking about what to do next”.
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“I think at a stage where DK is now, he’s very content with what he has done and what he’s achieved and I think that’s the most important thing with any athlete, is to try and be content with the work you’ve put in all these years. It’s not going to be easy moving away from the game because this is all he has done all his life. But I think he’s a person who as long as he’s content, is ready to move on in life. So he’s done well for himself and his family and he just has to be proud of it,” she spoke on what it means to step away from the sport.
While the video indicates that this might be the last we have seen of Dinesh Karthik, Dipika’s final message in the video still gives uncertainty about the decision but reveals that she and the family will always be proud of the things he has achieved.
She said, “The last match is whenever you decide to retire and hang up your bat. I feel like, well, just be very, very proud of the fact that you’ve given it all and he’s reached this, you know, reached this thing where he can proudly say that, you know, I’m done and I’m happy with my career.
“Spend more time with us. I think we’ll appreciate it,” she concluded.
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