Dinesh Karthik played his finisher's role to perfection as he scored 28 off just 10 balls, a knock which included 3 fours and 2 sixes.
While Virat Kohli’s 77-run knock garnered plenty of praises for RCB’s first win of the IPL 2024 season, there were other important contributions as well. Kohli scored a breathtaking 77 from 49 balls, which helped in taking his team over the line. RCB were under pressure at home when they were losing wickets at regular intervals. But Kohli stayed at one end and did not allow the innings to collapse.
After Kohli’s 77, the next best score in RCB’s line-up was Dinesh Karthik’s unbeaten 28. Karthik’s vital cameo came off just 10 balls and included 3 fours and 2 sixes. He came in when RCB had lost the wicket of Virat Kohli. After two balls, Anuj Rawat also got out leaving the side in huge trouble.
But Karthik kept his composure and took the game deep. In the penultimate over of rhe match, he smashed Harshal Patel for a four and a six to bring the equation down to 10 runs from 6 balls. The veteran then scooped Arshdeep Singh for a six in the last over before drilling him down the ground to take RCB to an improbable victory. Mahipal Lomror also contributed with a crucial 8-ball-17.
While speaking on Cricbuzz, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull lauded Dinesh Karthik‘s calm head under pressure and his MS Dhoni’s style of batting.
“Just shows you the pressure of the situation. I think that’s the key those who hold their nerve a little bit better. That’s why when you’ve got a DK a Dinesh Karthik to get at the backend with that experience. We talked about what he passes on to the youngsters and the side but it’s the experience of keeping calm understanding what the bowler is trying to do, knowing where your strengths are and it’s out of the MS Dhoni school,” Doull said.
Adding to this, Doull praised Karthik for taking the game deep and not bow down under pressure.
“The deeper you take it as a batting side, the more pressure, the bowlers will be under even if you do need quite a large total, even if you need, 36 of three overs, the deeper, you take at the more pressure, the bowlers will feel under and that’s exactly what’s happening,” Doull explained.
“He knew his spots, there was some indifferent bowling at times with the wrong field-sets. But you’ve still got to be able to finish it off and to be that cool, and that calm under pressure,” the renowned commentator added.
Also read: ‘He’s treasure…’ – RCB Team responds to Murali Kartik’s controversial remarks on Yash Dayal
Dinesh Karthik has looked in excellent touch in his last IPL season so far. In the first match against CSK, he scored 38 off just 26 balls under difficult circumstances to take RCB to a respectable total. Suprisingly, Anuj Rawat has donned the wicketkeeping gloves for RCB this year while Karthik has played as a batter.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.
