VVS Laxman convinced me to retire, reveals Murali Kartik

07/05/2020

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Murali Kartik has stated it was, in fact, India teammate VVS Laxman’s advice to retire from cricket after he was frustrated because of constant non-selection. The former left-arm spinner, who made his first class debut in 1996, remained on the fringes of the national team throughout his career.

Kartik, who played eight Tests, 37 ODIs, and one T20I for India, enjoyed a long first-class career where he played for 17 years before calling it a day in 2014. However, his international career had long ended in 2007 after a short-lived ODI comeback that year. Kartik never became a regular in the Indian setup owing to the fact that India already possessed a potent spin attack with Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh at the forefront. Kartik revealed that getting dropped was hard for him to deal with and he struggled with it for years until former teammates V.V.S. Laxman convinced him to retire.

"It was horrible. I was third in the pecking order in the Indian team and I am not getting into the details there. I was the lone senior in Railways. Sanjar Bangar went, Kulamani Parida went and I had turned down offers to turn up as professional but I didn't want to leave Railways. My worst two months was when I was with IPL team Kings XI Punjab. It was then Laxman who had a word with my wife Shweta and he didn't want to see me like that,” Kartik told Sportstar during an Instagram chat.

"I spoke to Laxman and then the media broadcasting thing happened. It wasn't a tough decision to make but it did take me a while to make the decision. I thought it was better to go while playing well.”

Kartik, who played a key role in Railways making the Ranji Trophy finals in 2000-01 and 2001-02, also had a successful stint in the County championship representing Middlesex, Somerset, Lancashire, and Surrey. Kartik admitted that he really enjoyed his time playing county cricket in England.

"I always wanted to play County cricket. Bedi always used to say that you have not played cricket until you played in England. "