'Coach said you're done': Dinesh Karthik takes sly dig at Ravi Shastri over his Test exit

Dinesh Karthik reveals how his Test career came to an end.

Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik recently took a playful jab at his former coach, Ravi Shastri, while recounting a moment that effectively marked the end of his Test career. During a live podcast on Monday, Karthik recalled how, after India's Test match at Lord’s during the 2018 England tour, Shastri bluntly told him he was “done” and shouldn’t “bother coming” anymore—a conversation that stood in sharp contrast to how former England skipper Nasser Hussain remembered his own exit from Test cricket.

Karthik had made a return to India’s red-ball setup in June 2018, stepping in as a replacement for the injured Wriddhiman Saha in the one-off Test against Afghanistan. His recall was based on a strong run of form in domestic cricket and limited-overs internationals. However, during the tour of England that followed, Karthik struggled to find his footing. He registered scores of 0 and 20 in the Edgbaston Test, followed by 1 and 0 at Lord’s—performances that would ultimately spell the end of his Test career.

Also Read - ‘Edgbaston could’ve been Shubman Gill’s last as skipper': Mark Butcher hits back at Ravi Shastri’s view

"There's not much in common between me and Nass, and I’d like to keep it that way. He finished at Lord's. I finished at Lord's. The only difference was that he went and knocked on the coach’s doors, saying I think I'm done. In my case, the coach came in and said, ‘Don’t bother coming in the next Test, you are done," said Karthik.

This exchange was sparked during a discussion on how players know when their Test careers are over. Former England captain Nasser Hussain recounted the moment he decided to walk away from the game:

"I knew I was gone. Strauss (Andrew) came in for that game, and Michael Vaughan was injured. I went to my old coach, Duncan Fletcher, I worked with him for four years. I knocked on his door and said, 'Dunc, tomorrow's gonna be my last day.’ In the hope that Duncan would say, 'Nass, you're playing pretty well but he went, 'No, tomorrow is going to be your last day.' I said, ‘Thanks, coach.'"

Also Read - Nike vs Adidas: Shubman Gill vest at Edgbaston raises eyebrows

Hussain went on to describe the events of that final Test: “Strauss was getting loads of runs; he was looking like he would get a hundred in both innings. I got him run out. I got one of my best mates at the other end. I hit it through the covers, got a hundred. We beat New Zealand. That’s a decent way to go out. Vaughan came back in. Strauss, we knew, was a superb Test cricket.”