Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thriller at the Eden Gardens by just one run. This loss was RCB’s seventh in the IPL 2024 season, making it hard for them to make it to the playoffs. Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan pointed fingers at Dinesh Karthik for RCB’s defeat against Kolkata and their likely exit from the playoff race.
He pointed out that Karthik’s decision to not take singles twice proved costly for the team, leading to their loss by just 1 run. During the 19th over of the innings, Karthik was batting alongside Karn Sharma. Despite opportunities to take singles on the second and fourth deliveries of the over, Karthik refused to do so with Karn Sharma standing at the other side.
“We all focused on Virat Kohli’s dismissal and how it played a part in the defeat. However, if you look closely, 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.”
“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 Pathan said.
While chasing the target of 223 runs RCB was going well at the beginning of the match. Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar played aggressively and scored fifty runs each, making it tough for the home team, but Andre Russell sent them to the pavilion and made the match tough for the visitors.
