Irfan Pathan Blames Dinesh Karthik For RCB Loss: Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Irfan Pathan blames Royal Challengers Bengaluru wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik for his side’s recent loss against Kolkata Knight Riders.
RCB took on KKR in Match 36 of IPL 2024 in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. While batting first, the home team notched up a mammoth total of 222. In response, RCB was in cruise control halfway through their innings.
But by the end of the 18th over, the Royal Challengers were seemingly in the backseat as they needed 31 runs in 12 balls with Karthik being the only proper batter left.
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With Karn Sharma at the non-striker’s end, Karthik refused to take even a single run on the first two balls of Andre Russell’s 19th over. He then hit a six and again refused a single on the fourth ball. He hit a four on the fifth ball and was then dismissed on the sixth.
With 21 needed off the last over, Karn Sharma showed off his batting prowess by hitting Mitchell Starc for three sixes in four balls before being dismissed. As three runs were needed off the last ball, RCB ended up losing by a single run.
Suffice it to say, if Dinesh Karthik took a single on any of the three occasions he could in the 19th over, things could have been different.
Irfan Pathan Blames Dinesh Karthik For RCB Loss
This sentiment is shared by Irfan Pathan, who reckons that the blame for RCB’s defeat should fall squarely on Karthik and his refusal to take a single. Speaking to Star Sports, Pathan said –
“Dinesh Karthik was responsible for the loss. He should have taken a single on two occasions, but the veteran didn’t trust Karn Sharma, who hit three sixes in Mitchell Starc’s bowling after Russell undid DK. His mistake resulted in RCB’s defeat and eliminated the team from the playoff race.”
The former T20 World Cup winner went on to say that as a batter, Dinesh Karthik should have trusted his partner.
“As a batter, you should trust your batting partner. Karn knows how to bat and he can score runs but sadly DK failed to understand the situation and paid a heavy price,” Irfan said.
With that loss, RCB is all but out of the tournament with only a single win in eight matches. With one more loss, they will become the first team to be officially eliminated from the IPL 2024 race to playoffs.
RCB will take on an in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad in their next match on April 25 in Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
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