‘If Karthik cannot perform like the way he used to…’ – Former India pacer’s bold statement on RCB’s batting after their clash against CSK in IPL 2023
Dinesh Karthik (Source: Twitter)
In the high-scoring encounter on Monday, when both sides scored more than 200 runs, Royal Challengers Bangalore fought hard against Chennai Super Kings. When CSK batted first, they made 226/6 and in response, RCB were restricted to 218/8 only to lose the game by eight runs.
Faf du Plessis (62 off 33 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (76 off 36) were the standout performers for RCB. Together, the pair scored 126 runs off just 61 balls, but their dismissals caused the batting order to crumble. Only 59 runs were scored in the final six overs, denying RCB of the required late flair.
Following RCB’s loss to CSK, Zaheer Khan, a former Indian seamer and IPL analyst for Jio Cinema, drew attention to a weakness in their batting. Dinesh Karthik’s poor performance, according to Zaheer, has made the RCB’s batting entirely dependent on Virat Kohli, Du Plessis, and Maxwell.
They didn’t allow losing two wickets to hamper the shot selection: Eoin Morgan
“The way Faf and Max batted, especially with Virat Kohli getting dismissed early, we understand the pressure they were under. In the middle-order or to finish, if Dinesh Karthik cannot perform like the way he used to play previously, then these issues will persist all season long as the rest of them are inexperienced,” Zaheer was quoted as saying on Jio Cinema.
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni and his team’s stunning victory against the opposition made Graeme Swann delighted.
“For CSK to hold their nerve, I didn’t think they were going to do it with only 4 or 5 overs left, RCB had it in the bag. But they held their nerves and they won the game. Hats off to Dhoni, he came up on top of the two kings tonight,” Swann was quoted as saying on Jio Cinema.
Du Plessis and Maxwell’s combination, which went close to achieving the target for RCB despite having a huge target to chase, received accolades from Eoin Morgan.
“This contribution set RCB up to go the whole way. The run rate required was never an issue, huge power of a partnership where he and Maxwell got together 126 off just 61. Really set them up. What I really like about it is that they didn’t allow losing two wickets to hamper the shot selection. They just thought of putting as much pressure as possible on CSK,”
