Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik has stepped away from IPL and Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru team for a while now as a cricketer. Karthik is currently assistant coach with IPL 2025 champions RCB but is still plying his trade in various T20 leagues around the world.
After making his debut SA20 league last season, Karthik will take the plunge in ILT20 league in UAE this. The former RCB star will turn out for Sharjah Warriorz and will replace Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis, who will be busy with Lankan Premier League 2025 season.
One of the sharpest minds in the game of cricket, especially in the shorter formats, Karthik’s legacy and excellence is well documented. An IPL champion with the Mumbai Indians in 2013, Karthik was also a member of the Indian team that won both the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.
In more recent years, Karthik was among the leadership group, as the batting coach, for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru franchise, who won their maiden IPL title in 2025. Co-incidentally, at RCB in IPL 2025, Karthik had worked closely with the big-hitting Tim David, who is one of the overseas players for the Sharjah Warriorz in Season 4 of the DP World ILT20.
Dinesh Karthik will play for Sharjah Warriorz in ILT20 2025 season.
Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Karthik, who began his international cricket career in 2004, is renowned for his abilities as a strong finisher. Usually seen to be the aggressor in the final phases of a T20 innings, the former KKR captain’s six-hitting ability, never-say-die attitude, and penchant for scoring all around the wicket, will further strengthen the Sharjah Warriorz’s batting unit.
In a career that panned across two decades, Karthik has played 412 T20 games, batted in 364 innings, amassed 7,437 runs, with 35 half-centuries to his name, and a strike-rate of 136.66. In the India colours, he has played 60 T201 matches, batted in 48 and gone on to make 686 runs at a strike-rate of 142.61.
At the Sharjah Warriorz, Dinesh Karthik will not only team up with his RCB colleague Tim David, but also with Sikandar Raza, who won the DP World ILT20 last season with the Dubai Capitals. The troika will join captain Tim Southee, Johnson Charles, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, and Saurabh Netravalkar.
“I am very excited to be joining the Sharjah Warriorz team for the DP World ILT20 tournament. I know they are a young team, aspiring to do some special things, and I am happy to be here. Sharjah is also one of those iconic stadiums one always wants to play at. And to be a part of the franchise Sharjah Warriorz, makes a dream come true,” Karthik said about joining Sharjah Warriorz.
While head coach and former South Africa batter JP Duminy said, “Dinesh Karthik is one of the most experienced hands and an incredibly innovative mind when it comes to T20 cricket, and I am chuffed to have him in our corner for the upcoming edition of the DP World ILT20. The whole world has seen what he is capable of with the bat, and his explosive batting, dynamic personality, and immense experience will surely benefit the younger players significantly during the course of the tournament. I look forward to working with him closely.”
Batting coach of Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru and former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik is set to make his ILT20 debut with Sharjah Warriorz this year.
