"It seems AB de Villiers has gone and left his soul in Dinesh Karthik" - Aakash Chopra on RCB keeper's match-winning knock vs DC

Aakash Chopra has highlighted that Dinesh Karthik has almost carried on from where AB de Villiers left off for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Karthik smoked an unbeaten 66 off just 34 deliveries in last night's IPL 2022 encounter against the Delhi Capitals (DC). His blazing knock helped Faf du Plessis' side post a massive 189/5 on the board, and they went on to win the match by 16 runs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Karthik's efforts ensured that RCB won despite Du Plessis and Virat Kohli not being amongst the runs. He said:

"It seems AB de Villiers has gone and left his soul in Dinesh Karthik. Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli did not score runs but Bangalore still tasted victory."

Reflecting on the RCB batting effort, the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player observed that Glenn Maxwell bailed them out of early trouble. He elaborated:

"When they got to bat, wickets fell at regular intervals. Shardul Thakur dismisses Anuj Rawat, Faf du Plessis gets out. This is the sixth match and Virat Kohli has gotten run out twice. He is running non-existing runs. Maxwell batted like Maxi, he hit very well."

Maxwell smashed 55 runs off 34 balls after RCB were reduced to a score of 40/3 at one stage. He took Kuldeep Yadav to the cleaners in the latter's first over, but the wrist-spinner bounced back to dismiss the big-hitting Australian.

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"He is rewinding the clock" - Aakash Chopra lauds Dinesh Karthik's knock

Dinesh Karthik's knock was studded with five fours and as many sixes [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra was effusive in his praise for the knock played by Karthik, saying:

"But after that, RCB was 92/5 at one stage. There Dinesh Karthik - what a player, what is this guy doing? He is rewinding the clock, age is just a number, he is class. He is reinventing the wheel every other day."

While also lauding Shahbaz Ahmed's efforts with the bat, the renowned commentator pointed out that three expensive overs hit the Delhi Capitals hard. He explained:

"AB de Villiers has given his superpowers to Dinesh Karthik. He took the team to 189. Shahbaz also played well. Kuldeep Yadav had to bowl the 20th over. The Delhi Capitals conceded 68 runs in three overs - Karthik hit four fours and two sixes in an over from Mustafizur, Glenn Maxwell hit 23 runs in Kuldeep's first over and then again 17 runs were scored in his last over."

After RCB set a 190-run target for DC, almost all their bowlers played their roles in restricting Rishabh Pant's side to a score of 173/7.

The Bangalore-based franchise, who now have eight points, jumped to third spot in the points table, only behind the Gujarat Titans and the Lucknow Super Giants on net run rate.