Over the last few years, however, he has only been active in domestic cricket and the IPL circuit, where he’s been a fixture since the inaugural season in 2008. He signs off after Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB’s) playoff game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Ahmedabad earlier this month.
ESPNcricinfo had reported prior to the start of IPL 2024 that it would be the last IPL season for Karthik, so the announcement was on the cards. He will leave the tournament as one of just seven players to have featured in every edition of the IPL so far, along with MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey.
Overall, Karthik represented six IPL teams. Starting with Daredevils (2008-14), he moved to Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings – 2011), Mumbai Indians (2012-13), Gujarat Lions (2016-17), Kolkata Knight Riders (2018-21) and RCB (2015, 2022-present). Overall in 256 matches, Karthik has scored 4816 runs at an average of nearly 26, striking at over 135 with 22 half centuries. As a keeper, Karthik is second on list behind Dhoni in overall dismissals (172) as well as stumpings (36).
An established captain in Tamil Nadu, his state in domestic cricket, Karthik has also led in the IPL – on six occasions as a stand-in skipper at Daredevils, and 37 times between 2018 and 2020 at KKR before he stepped down. Overall, his captaincy record reads: 21 wins, 21 losses and one tied match.