Following the appointment of Darren Lehmann, who had previously worked with Gilchrist at Deccan, as head coach, Gilchrist chose to play one more IPL season for Kings XI, once again as captain. In May 2013, Gilchrist announced his retirement from the IPL. A planned appearance in the first season of the Caribbean Premier League had to be cancelled after an ankle injury and the match proved to be Gilchrist's last in top-class cricket. In that fixture, Gilchrist took the wicket of Harbhajan Singh, from his one and only ball he ever bowled in a T20 match.