The 38-year-old played four international games, and retires as the only cricketer to have won a hat-trick of IPL trophies with three different teams
Published: Aug 23, 2026, 6:35 AM (19 hrs ago)
Karn Sharma retires with five international appearances to his name • Saikat Das/BCCI
Karn Sharma, the legspinner who played four games for India, has retired from international and Indian domestic cricket. The Railways bowler made the announcement on Saturday night, after a UP T20 league match between Kanpur Superstars and Meerut Mavericks, and will bow out after his team’s last match of the Lucknow leg on August 25.
Karn finishes with four IPL trophies to his name and played one Test, two ODIs and one T20I in a short international career in 2014.
“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.”
Karn made his first-class, List A and T20 debuts during the 2007-08 domestic season and developed as an allrounder. He scored a century on Ranji Trophy debut. However, his breakthrough season came in 2012-13, when he took 21 wickets at an average of 19.04 in three Ranji matches and won the BCCI’s Best Under-25 Cricketer award. In the 2014 IPL auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for a record INR 3.75 crore, which was the highest auction price for an uncapped Indian player at the time.
His performances drew the attention of the selectors, and he was soon rewarded with a place in India’s limited-overs squad for the 2014 tour of England. He played one T20I on the tour and dismissed Joe Root as his only wicket. Soon, Karn was also part of India’s ODI squad for a tour of Sri Lanka.
Karn made his ODI debut in the iconic match where Rohit Sharma scored 264. Karn played another ODI in the series, but failed to take any wickets in either games. Later in the year, he made his Test debut in the Adelaide Test and took two wickets in each innings.
That, though, was Karn’s last international appearance. He was picked for a limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe in 2015, but an injury kept him out of action and he never came close to adding to his four international appearances.
In 2018, Karn became the first player to win three IPL titles in a row, a short list that includes only Suyash Sharma and Phil Salt. What was unique about his feat was that he did so with three different teams: SRH (2016), Mumbai Indians (2017) and Chennai Super Kings (2018). During this period, Karn also played for Vidarbha in the 2017-18 domestic season and Andhra in the 2018-19 season, before returning to Railways.
Karn’s last IPL game was in 2025 with MI, and was part of the Railways teams across formats in the 2025-26 domestic season. In 97 first-class matches, he took 270 wickets at an average of 27.60, with 14 five-wicket hauls. He also scored 2866 runs in 138 first-class innings, with two centuries and 17 fifties.
In 123 List-A matches, he took 153 wickets, including three five-wicket hauls, while in 191 T20s he grabbed 168 wickets, including 83 wickets in 90 IPL matches. During this period, he also scored one century and six half-centuries in List-A cricket, and another two fifties in T20s.
Daya Sagar is a sub-editor at Cricinfo Hindi @dayasagar95
