End of the road for 38-year-old leg-spinner

Karn Sharma has called time on his international and Indian domestic career at the age of 38, bringing the curtain down on a career that saw the legspinner represent India across all three formats.

The Railways cricketer announced his decision on Saturday night following the UP T20 League game between Kanpur Superstars and Meerut Mavericks. He will make his final appearance for Kanpur in their last match of the Lucknow leg on August 25.

Brief but memorable India stint in 2014

Sharma had a brief but memorable international career. He played one Test, two ODIs and a T20I for India, all in 2014.

After a fine IPL season in 2014, in which he took 15 wickets at an economy rate of 7.42, he made his T20I debut in Birmingham and dismissed Joe Root. He then made his ODI debut in Kolkata, a game made famous by Rohit Sharma's record-breaking 264. A month later, in his Test captaincy debut, Virat Kohli famously picked Karn over Ravichandran Ashwin for the Adelaide Test. Karn managed four wickets in that Test but didn't feature again for India.

"My station has arrived, I am already 38 and I feel there is no point in playing anymore. The more I play, I will occupy the place of a young player in the team. There is no point in staying in playing when you know that India call will never come. So I spoke to my family and friends and they said, it’s the right time," Sharma told The Indian Express.

Long domestic career and IPL success

His domestic career stretched across nearly two decades. He made his first-class debut for Railways in 2007 and also had stints with Andhra and Vidarbha before returning to Railways. He also became a regular presence in the IPL, winning four titles during his career, including three in a row between 2016 and 2018 — for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

He played 97 first-class games, taking 270 wickets, and also scored 2,866 runs with two hundreds, including one on his Ranji Trophy debut against Jammu & Kashmir. He also featured in more than 90 IPL matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings.

Looking back and ahead

Announcing his decision, Karn wrote: "I now want to retire... I am extremely grateful to my family, BCCI, Railways, UPCA, Andhra, Vidarbha Cricket Association and everyone who has supported me throughout this journey," Karn, 38, said while making the announcement. "After this, I will be available for coaching and other responsibilities related to the game of cricket."

Despite finding it difficult to return to the national team as R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja became established in India's spin department, Sharma looks back with satisfaction.

"God gave me everything which I never dreamt of. When I began to play cricket, my dream was always to play for India and play all three formats for the Indian team. There are very few players who play all three formats. I did all the hard work, gave all I had. Somewhere in destiny it was written that I will play these games and am happy," he added.

Sharma said receiving his India Test cap remains one of the most memorable moments of his career.

"Getting a Test cap remains a special place in my heart. It was the best day for sure. Playing for India and learning I got will hold a special place for sure. Everytime I played, I gave it all I had, I always tried to learn and improve. The time has come for me to say goodbye and sign off cap number 283," he explains.

He has no immediate plans after retirement but wants to remain connected with cricket. "I don’t know, it will be hard to say at the moment but I want to give back to the game. If someone needs my help, I will be there. I will be going into my second innings of my life post retirement, will see what opportunities come my way," he said.