"He came in and just took the game away from us" - Riyan Parag hails Dinesh Karthik for fantastic knock in RR vs RCB IPL 2022 match

Rajasthan Royals (RR) youngster Riyan Parag conceded that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Dinesh Karthik’s brilliant knock on Tuesday completely took the game away from them.

The RCB keeper-batter hammered an unbeaten 44 off 23 balls at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as Bangalore chased down a target of 170 with four wickets in hand. At one stage, RCB were struggling at 87 for 5. However, Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed (45 off 26) added 67 for the sixth wicket to swing the momentum of the game.

Speaking at a post-match conference, Parag stated that Karthik and Ahmed deserve due credit for RCB’s win. He admitted:

“I think they played really well. DK and Shahbaz took the game away from us. Dinesh bhai was phenomenal. He came in and just took the game away from us. I don’t really think we made a lot of mistakes. I just feel they were better on the given day.”

RR skipper Sanju Samson made some interesting moves towards the end of the game to try and buy a wicket. He kept one over of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for the death. Chahal bowled the 17th over but Karthik and Ahmed did not take any risks against him, picking up four singles.

Parag again praised the RCB duo for their game awareness. He added:

“Sanju (Samson) bhai was thinking that we should hold back a wicket-taking option for the end. But Dinesh bhai and Shahbaz did not take any chances in that over bowled by Chahal. They played him really well. It was a mental game and they were too good.”

Despite managing only four runs off Chahal’s over, Bangalore were in control, needing 28 from the last three. They got home with five balls to spare.

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“Can’t judge composition by tonight’s result” - Parag on missing sixth bowling option against RCB

In the build up to Tuesday’s clash, many critics had pointed out that not having a sixth bowling option could hurt the Rajasthan franchise. That proved to be the case as Ravichandran Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna and Navdeep Saini were very expensive.

Asked about the same, the RR batter pointed out that the franchise had won their first two matches with the same combination. Responding to the Sportskeeda query, Parag countered:

“The first two matches went really well, so we can’t judge the composition by tonight’s result. They are looking for me to bowl a few overs as well. But, it was not required today. I have bowled a couple of overs in the last two games. So I think the composition is going to stay for now.”

With seven overs to go in the chase, RCB needed 82 with five wickets in hand. The next over bowled by Ashwin went for 21, after which Bangalore took control of the game.