Dinesh Karthik is no stranger to town of Chennai. The pre-match press convention forward of the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru began with homeboy Karthik jokingly commenting, in his native tongue Tamil, on the irony of him representing the Bengaluru outfit.
The mentor, nonetheless, was fast to defend his wards, particularly Virat Kohli, when he was requested whether or not RCB batters had any points tackling spin.
“Problem playing spin? I don’t think there is any problem. One of our strengths, I believe, is the way we play spin. And as this tournament unfolds, you will see it happen. CSK has three good spinners, no doubt. But we also have very good competent batters,” Karthik mentioned on the MAC Stadium on Thursday.
“He (Kohli) is coming off some serious runs in the Champions Trophy. He has batted well in the recent past against spin, especially in white-ball cricket. He is batting as well as he has ever done in the IPL,” Karthik emphasised.
CSK had shocked many by dropping captain Ruturaj Gaikwad to No. 3 and sending Rahul Tripathi out to open the batting alongside Rachin Ravindra in its season opener towards Mumbai Indians. Head coach Stephen Fleming assured the choice to tinker with the order was not taken on a whim.
“Most of our decisions are collective… the captain has a big say and nothing is done in isolation. It’s not a quick plan… this is something we talked about way back in the auction room,” Fleming mentioned.
Published – March 27, 2025 08:58 pm IST
