I wasn't padded up, I was just chilling: Karthik on the 25/6 collapse

Royal Challengers Bengaluru chased down a target of 148 in just 13.4 overs against Gujarat Titans on May 4 (Saturday), but it wasn’t as simple as it looked. RCB were 92/1 at the end of six overs but that’s when all hell broke loose. 

Joshua Little and Noor Ahmad took five wickets between them and Bengaluru were reduced to 117/6 in no time, still needing 31 runs. That’s when Dinesh Karthik took the attack to Rashid Khan and smashed him for 16 runs in an over. The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 21 off 12 and, alongside Swapnil Singh (9-ball 15*), took RCB over the line.

“Started with a cup of tea and then after about four overs, I had my first cappuccino. I thought I wasn't going to bat. I wasn't padded up, I wasn't mentally ready, I was just chilling. Things happened and then I had to pad up. I was a touch late but I just managed to make it,” said Karthik after the match.

Talking about his knock, Karthik said: “It's a very different sort of pressure, it's one thing chasing down totals in an interesting way and all you need to think about is hitting boundaries. But if there's a lot of time and you need to make sure that playing sensibly is also the need of the hour, then your basic cricketing skills come through, how you are able to hit boundaries without taking risks. Over a period of time, that's been my strength, so I backed myself to that.”

Skipper Faf du Plessis set the tone with a superb 23-ball 64, but wasn’t pleased with some of the batters after RCB lost a couple of wickets in quick succession. “The games we've played here have all been high-scoring, anything around 180-190 would've been par. Was important we didn't look at the scoreboard when we went out to bat and try and play the way we play,” he said.

“I was a bit nervous. It was probably not the best assessment from us there. Yes, we wanted to go out there and get the total quickly to boost the NRR, but probably when we were 4 down, we had to calm down a little bit.”

Meanwhile, GT captain Shubman Gill said the result could have been different if they had managed to get to 180. “It all depends on the wicket, you see the first couple of overs. You get an idea and you play according to that. I think 170-180 on this wicket would have been a good total. I think how we batted in the powerplay and how we bowled in the powerplay, that made a difference.”

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