“If he had clicked in a couple of games, that could have been the difference” - Sanjay Bangar laments poor season for Dinesh Karthik
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Sanjay Bangar lamented keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik’s poor form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. According to the former India all-rounder, a couple of good knocks from the finisher could have made a difference to the team’s campaign.
Karthik had a tremendous IPL season last year, smashing 330 runs at an average of 55 and a strike rate of 183.33, forcing his way back into the Indian T20I squad. However, he failed to repeat his exploits in the ongoing season.
On Sunday, May 21, in the must-win encounter against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Karthik was dismissed for a golden duck, caught down leg off a short ball from Yash Dayal.
Reflecting on the veteran batter’s woes, Bangar said in a post-match press conference:
“You can look at it two ways. Last season, our top-order wasn’t scoring that many runs. That meant that a bulk of the scoring was done by the lower-order in Shahbaz [Ahmed] and Dinesh [Karthik], who had a fantastic season last year. But this season, because the top-order was batting so well, the opportunities to the lower-order were limited.
“Yes, DK had a season which probably is below his standards. If he had clicked in a couple of games, that would have meant that we would have added 15 or 20 runs more to our score in the games that were crunch games. That could have been the difference between winning and losing.”
Most ducks in IPL
Dinesh karthik - 17
Rohit Sharma - 16
New record for DK https://t.co/Odw8o6pshT
In 13 matches in IPL 2023, Karthik managed only 140 runs at an average of 11.67 and a strike rate of 134.62, with a best of 30.
“It’s just didn’t click this season” - Bangar on Karthik’s batting in IPL 2023
Elaborating on Karthik’s poor performance, Bangar stated that the conversations with the batter were no different from last season.
He also hailed DK's commitment to the team’s cause, but added that things just did not fall into place.
The 50-year-old said:
“It’s [conversations] no different from any other player. We tried to define the role for him. We made sure that he was walking in during the phases that we wanted, where his strengths could have been maximized. He had an outstanding season [last year]. I don’t think that his effort or his preparation or the clarity that we gave was different last season. It’s just that it didn’t click this season.
“More than anybody, if there’s one guy who would be disappointed the most, it is Dinesh. He prides himself as a professional and he wants to contribute to the team’s cause. We could see it in him and even till the last game, we were hoping that he would come good, but that wasn’t meant to be. We live, learn and move ahead.”
RCB's head coach Sanjay Bangar said - "Dinesh Karthik had a Outstanding season in last IPL. But in this IPL, he is just didn't click. He always wants to contribute to the team's cause and success. But he didn't click in this IPL season". https://t.co/djBgPOUQn8
Karthik, 37, is among the most experienced players in IPL. He has played 242 matches, scoring 4516 runs at an average of 25.81 and a strike rate of 132.71.