While Dinesh Karthik enjoyed a great career in the Indian Premier League (IPL), he has often admitted that not playing for Chennai Super Kings is one of his biggest regrets.
The former star of India represented six teams in the IPL, but never got an opportunity to represent the franchise of his home.
DK has a long ambition to play for Chennai
From time to time, Dinesh Karthik has said that he did not get a big time by being elected by CSK. In an interview with Harsha Bhogle in 2020, while he was playing for Kolkata Knight Riders, Dinesh Karthik said that CSK first raised MS Dhoni on him in the auction was like ‘dagger for his heart’.
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“The first name that I saw (by CSK in the first IPL auction) was MS Dhoni, for 1.5 million. He was sitting just below the corner.
“Then I thought they were going to take me later. But it’s 13 years and I am still waiting for the elusive call from CSK,” he said.
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CSK bid for Dinesh Karthik several times, but never managed to sign up to him. The right-handed batsman finally ended his game career in the IPL in 2024 without representing the Chennai-based organization.
Dinesh Karthik on not playing for CSK:
In a recent interview on India today, Dinesh Karthik was asked to name the franchise that he would like to represent if he was to come out of retirement. They were given two options – Royal Challengers Bangalore or CSK.
“If you had to come out of retirement, and you were given the option of franchise, CSK or RCB. Who would you choose?”
In response, Karthik made it clear that he still wants to represent CSK as he said, “Great question, because I played for RCB, I once want to play for CSK. I am not really playing for CSK.”
DK after playing for RCB,
“I’m not really not playing for CSK”. pic.twitter.com/wj8xk0gbp
– `(@Worshipdhoni) September 10, 2025
Karthik did his business in the IPL from 2008 to 2024. In his brilliant career, he played 257 matches and scored 4842 runs with the help of 22 half -centuries.
