‘Rs 3-4 lakh per session’: Dinesh Karthik gives insider’s peek into Mumbai Indians, regrets leaving IPL team

Cricketer Dinesh Karthik has praised IPL’s Mumbai Indians franchise, owned by the Ambanis, for leaving no stone unturned in ensuring the cricketers in the team are able to become the best players they can possibly be. In an interaction with fellow cricketer Ravichandran Aswhin on his podcast 'Kutti Stories With Ash', Karthik said that he regretted not choosing to stay with Mumbai Indians (MI) back in 2013.

The wicketkeeper batter had played two seasons of the IPL in 2012 and 2013 for Mumbai Indians. He was part of the winning team when Mumbai Indians lifted the trophy in 2013, but decided to be listed for the auctions in 2014. He played for Delhi Capitals next.

“What MI does is provide resources in terms of practice and access to the coaches whenever you want to upskill your game. They're always there, creating an ecosystem for you to become the best player that you can be. I think that was their first and biggest learning experience,” Karthik said.

“You can tell MI that you know that in between Ranji Trophy matches, I want to practice, and they have a field, they have coaches, they have balls, and they have bowlers. They have sidearmers; they will give you everything; they'll give you a stay; they'll give you flight tickets; they will give you everything possible to become the best version of yourself. So when you do that, you are impacting the player at a very subconscious level by saying we care for you. So I think that's what MI does.”  

He mentioned that as a player you have a greater chance of improving your game if you are at Mumbai Indians.

“Do they expect results? Yes, like any other franchise, you would, but they're also providing you with the resources to say that you become the best player that you can be, and then when you come on to play for MI, we expect you to do well for us. If you don't do well for us, that's fine, but we trust you. And you have a much better chance of improving your game, improving your skill sets, and then competing in the IPL, where you know that as a team we do well and they help do that to each and every person,” Karthik said.

The Indian cricketer mentioned that Mumbai Indians players get to practice with Kookaburra balls which are much more expensive.

“They've created a nice ecosystem, and you can see that they have a ground in Ghansoli, which is beautiful. They have wickets for you; they have a ground, as I said. They have balls. You have to understand that when I say balls, it might sound frivolous. Each Kookaburra ball is Rs 15,000. When you play with a Kookaburra ball, it is very different from playing with any other cricket ball. So to provide 20 to 30 balls is Rs 3 lakh a practice session... Rs 3-4 lakh per practice session.”

Beyond spending, Karthik also praised the culture that had developed at Mumbai Indians.

“So you know, financially, they're willing to shell out to see you succeed and become the best version of yourself, and in that, if you can impact Mumbai Indians and do well, why not? And I really like that culture where they were open to me coming and practicing with them whenever I required whatever I required at any point in time, and I think they were front runners in so many ways in trying to provide an ecosystem to help you grow as a player, not only in the white ball format but in any format that you choose to, and I think that resonated well with me, and I really did well for them,” he said.

Karthik said he regretted leaving Mumbai Indians after 2013 because he believes he would have developed into an even better player if he had stayed.

“And if you had to actually ask me one of my regrets in my cricketing career in respect to IPL, it was the fact that I didn't want to get retained in 2013. If I had to rewind that whole thing and go back, and that is when I think sometimes, as a young player, you need someone as a life coach, if I had had Abishek Nayar at that stage, I know he would have said play for the Mumbai Indians. I don't have too many regrets in life. I'm not that kind of a person, but if I have two regrets in my cricketing career in terms of IPL, one would be the fact that I chose not to get retained because I thought MI was a team that could have really helped me grow and become an even better player.”

“And two would be the fact that, obviously, I couldn't represent CSK so far. But that I understand, though it's a regret because I couldn't play. I mean, coming from Chennai, I played all my cricket there, and I would have loved to be part of the yellow jersey, but I always respect them because they genuinely try every year to try and get me in the auction.”

Karthik mentioned that he had the option to stay at Mumbai Indians. "I had the opportunity to be retained, and I declined it because I thought if I went into the auction, you know, a typical young boy who wanted to obviously chance his time in the auction, and I went inside and I became part of the auction. I just felt if I had been part of the Mumbai Indians at that stage, I would have grown a lot more as a player. The kind of infrastructure they had, the kind of team that they built, and being part of the team that was led by Rohit Sharma. [Ricky] Ponting was a coach, and the owners were brilliant with me as well.

I had a really good relationship with Akash [Ambani], Anant [Ambani], and, to a small extent, even Nita [Ambani] bhabhi. So I had a good relationship, and you know, I just felt that if I had been part of that team, it would have helped me grow as a cricketer and as a person, and hence, when I look back at it, a decade has passed since I just felt I missed an opportunity there in Mumbai."

The other teams Karthik has represented are Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals; 2008, 2009, 2014), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings; 2011), Royal Challengers Bangalore (2015, 2022-2024), Gujarat Lions (2016, 2017), Kolkata Knight Riders (2018-2021).