'DK playing his best cricket,' says captain Faf du Plessis

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis upheld his teammate Dinesh Karthik to make another India comeback following the wicketkeeper player’s game dominating thump against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

Karthik crushed an unbeaten 44 of 23 balls to fire RCB to a four wicket win after a batting collapse that put his team in some hot water.

Shahbaz Ahmed likewise made a critical 45 off 26 balls to set up the success.

“DK is playing his best cricket. I think he needs to put his name back into international cricket, doesn’t he. To pull it out of nowhere you need some good characters, and DK is as big a character as you can get. That calmness towards the end allows others to just come in,” said Faf du Plessis

Karthik, who has made national comebacks in the past, last played for India in the 2019 World Cup. He needs to get back to the Indian side as an assigned finisher.

Having moved teams this season, Karthik said he expected to up his game.

“I made a conscious effort to do justice to myself. Felt I could have done better in the last few years. The way I’ve trained has been different. I was telling myself I’m not done yet. I have a goal and I want to achieve something,” he said.

“The real work is done in the lead-up to IPL, which is what I’ll give credit to. You have to premeditate in T20, but if it’s not there, you have to have the ability to change the shot,” he added.