Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik who helped RCB to score 173 runs against CSK in the first match of the IPL 2024 feels they were “slightly under par”.
Dinesh Karthik Scored an Unbeaten 38 vs CSK in Chennai
Winning the toss, RCB captain Faf du Plessis opted to bat first where Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis opened the innings as expected. Opening the game, Faf du Plessis made an aggressive start while Virat maintained a steady phase.
But soon, Faf’s reign comes to an end when CSK’s new recruiter Mustafizur Rahman bowls his first over of the season. The Bangladesh-born dismissed Faf du Plessis for 35 runs and drew the first blood for RCB.
Soon in the same over, Rahman dismissed Rajat Patidar for a duck and swapped the RCB’s aggressive start. In the very next over, Chahar dismissed Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck and added pressure over the RCB batters.
Soon after Cameroon Green’s(18 runs) dismissal, Anuj Rawaj and Dinesh Karthik made an outstanding partnership and scored 95 runs off just 57 deliveries. With the duo’s impressive partnership, RCB scored 173 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs.
Speaking on the 95 runs partnership with Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik says “Feel a bit rusty. Right till the last over, I was finding my form. Wasn’t coming as smoothly but that’s understandable. I was trying hard, we were in a pressure situation and I was trying to stitch a partnership with a young guy who’s been around for a while. It is a very good pitch and looks good for batting”.
“We are slightly under par, so we need to field well and bowl out of our skin. We lost a few wickets in the middle, that hurt us. In the back end, if we connected with a few sixes then that could make the difference”.
“Chasing 182-183 would be a lot more tricky than 173. We need to field well, but I know we are more than capable of that. The best part is I might not be there on the field, so even better for us (laughs off)”, says DK.
.@RCBTweets Dial 6⃣! 🔥
Anuj Rawat & Dinesh Karthik upping the ante! ⚡️ ⚡️
Head to @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia to watch the match LIVE
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/4j6FaLF15Y#TATAIPL | #CSKvRCB | @AnujRawat_1755 | @DineshKarthik pic.twitter.com/c5o3rXdEZf
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 22, 2024
On the other hand, Mustafizur who played his first match for CSK bagged 4 wickets and spelled 29 runs in 4 overs. Tushar Deshpande becomes the most expensive bowler for CSK where he gave whopping 47 runs in 4 overs which includes 6 wides.
Ravindra Jadeja, Maheesh Theekshana, also went wicketless while Deepak Chahar bagged one wicket by dismissing RCB’s key player Glenn Maxwell. Overall, CSK bowled 13 extras in their first match of the season against RCB today.
CSK need to score 174 runs in the allotted 20 overs where Rachin Ravindra is expected to open the inning along with CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.
