The Railways veteran, who represented India across one Test match, two ODIs, and a solitary T20I, revealed his decision to step away from international fixtures and domestic Indian cricket. The professional playing journey for seasoned legspinner Karn Sharma has officially reached its final chapter. This announcement came on Saturday night following a UP T20 league fixture featuring the Kanpur Superstars and the Meerut Mavericks, with his formal departure scheduled to take place after his squad concludes their Lucknow leg commitments on August 25.
‘I now want to retire… ‘After this, I will be available for coaching and other responsibilities related to the game of cricket. Karn played another ODI in the series, but failed to take any wickets. Later in the year, he was also part of the red-ball tour of Australia and featured in the Adelaide Test and took two wickets in each innings.
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. He secured his debut ODI cap during the historic match where Rohit Sharma scored 264, the highest individual score in men’s ODI cricket. Alongside his multi-franchise success, his domestic career featured stints with Vidarbha during the 2017-18 season and Andhra during 2018-19 before he returned to anchor Railways. His final appearance in the marquee T20 league occurred in 2025 with MI, and was part of the Railways teams across all three formats in the 2025-26 domestic season.
Such domestic consistency generated massive attention from talent scouts, culminating in Sunrisers Hyderabad shelling out a record INR 3.75 crore during the 2014 auctions, which stood back then as the highest purchase price ever recorded for an uncapped Indian player.
