‘Dinesh Karthik is as close as it gets to MS Dhoni when it comes to being ice-cool’: Faf Du Plessis
MSD-Dk (image source :BCCI)
The fans of the Indian T20 League await the clash between the arch-rivals Bangalore and Kolkata every season. The sixth match of the Indian T20 League 2022 was the first time that the two teams met this season. The encounter did not disappoint the fans and turned out to be a nail-biting affair between the two franchises.
The toss was won by the Bangalore skipper Faf Du Plessis and he decided to field first. The bowlers proved their captain right by picking up 3 wickets of Kolkata in the powerplay. Kolkata failed to recover from the initial setback and kept losing wickets throughout their innings. They were able to manage only 128 runs at the end of their innings. Bangalore did not have an ideal start to the chase. Much like their opponents, Bangalore also kept losing wickets at regular intervals and was making a mess of the small target. But the skipper of the men in red held back the experienced Dinesh Karthik, even when it was looking like the match was slipping out of their hand. At last, Karthik came to bat at the end of the 16th over, when the fifth wicket of the innings fell. After this, the keeper stayed calm and saw out the last over of the very potent Sunil Narine. Then with the help of Harshal Patel, Karthik took Bangalore to a 3 wickets victory in the low-scoring thriller.
When asked about the reason behind holding Karthik back for so long, Du Plessis revealed that it was a strategy to utilize the keeper’s experience under pressure situations. He also compared the composure and calmness of Dinesh Karthik with that of MS Dhoni, who is considered the best chaser in the business by many.
“In an ideal world, we would have liked to have won more convincingly but a win is a win. DK’s experience helped in the end, cool-calm, runs weren’t never really too far away. DK is as close as it gets to MS Dhoni when it comes to being ice cool. I rely on other people for help.”- the Bangalore skipper said in the post-match conversation.
