(IANS Credit)
Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket via social media. His decision came just days after representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Eliminator, where the team faced a defeat against Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets. Despite the loss, Karthik received an abundance of love and support from fans and teammates as he bid farewell.
During the IPL season, Karthik had an impressive performance for RCB, scoring 326 runs in 14 matches, which included a couple of half-centuries, with a striking rate of 187.36. Behind the stumps, he contributed with 4 catches and a stumping. However, his mentor and close friend, Abhishek Nayar, who is also the assistant coach of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), disclosed that Karthik had been diagnosed with a medical condition known as Myocytes.
In a conversation with Ranveer Allahbadia on his podcast TRS, Nayar revealed that Karthik had been experiencing faster fatigue than usual, prompting him to undergo medical tests.
“Dinesh Karthik (DK) had a condition called Myocytes where muscles fatigue no matter what you do. So, you have to make sure that you do certain things and live a certain way, but you have to identify that,” Nayar said in the podcast.
“Sometimes, it’s about doing random blood tests related to a particular issue and understanding what is going wrong in your body, which can prolong your career. This season, I promise you DK has survived due to those reasons,” he added.
Upon learning about his condition, Karthik had to adhere to a specific regimen to ensure his participation in the IPL.
“I remember when we were preparing for the season, he used to bat a lot first and used to get tired in 20-25 minutes. I used to tell him that either you have become old or there is something wrong with your body. Rahul Tripathi was also there and I asked him whether he thinks this is the same old DK and he said no. Then, we did some blood tests and worked on making sure he was strong enough to withstand an IPL. That is how we went through IPL, otherwise, you never know,” he added.
