“‘Ben Stokes’ Came Out Of Virat Kohli’s Mouth”: Dinesh Karthik On Getting Send-off, Reveals India Star’s Sledging

For Dinesh Karthik, the IPL 2024 was extra special. He was not only part of special campaign that saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru win six matches on the trot to make an improbable dash into the playoffs, but the tournament was also his last as a player. Last few season, Karthik flourished in the RCB ranks, even earning a T20 WC call-up. HIs terrific performance as a finisher and as a wicketkeeper was saluted by all after he hung his boots. 

Recently, he opened up on the banter he had with Indian cricket teammates Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya. 

“You’ll have had your share of banter received and dished out on the field. What is one that has stuck?” Dinesh Karthik was asked by Cricbuzz.

“Every time I played against RCB and Virat Kohli caught my catch, ‘Ben Stokes‘ came out of his mouth for sure. But that was a send-off. Hardik Pandya sledged me saying ‘Abhi leg-spinner aaya, iska thank you hi hai’ [Now a leg spinner will come, and it is Thank You time] Then I had to play a couple of shots, and then he was like ‘Theek hai, thoda improve hogaya lag raha hai’. [Looks like he’s improved a bit]. That was good,” Dinesh said.

“He’s a good friend. He was also like ‘commentator banke bhi thoda kaam kar raha hai’. [Even after becoming a commentator, he’s working on his game] That was fun. Rohit Sharma was also taunting me this year… unnecessarily giving me hopes.”

He was then asked about the ‘one compliment’ that stayed with him. “There’s been a lot of outpouring of love… One for my cricket – Virat Kohli saying that he’d love me being part of the [RCB] team which was a great compliment. Dhoni said: ‘I’ve really enjoyed your commentary, DK. Very, very good.’ That’s about as big a compliment as you can get from Dhoni I guess,” he said.