IPL 2022 | 'DK is as great a character as you can get' - Faf du Plessis

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by four wickets against Rajasthan Royals. Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and opted to bowl first. However, RR had a shaky start as they lost Jaisal quite early in the innings. But Jos Buttler smashed a quickfire 70 and, along with Hetmyer's 42, guided them to a competitive 169 runs in their allotted 20 overs.

While chasing, Faf du Plessis and Anuj Rawat added 55 runs for the first wicket. However, late cameos from Shahbaz Ahmed (45 off 26 with four fours and three sixes) and Dinesh Karthik (44* off 23 with seven fours and a six) helped RCB win the match with five wickets in hand.

After the win, Dinesh Karthik, who won the Player of the Match award, said: "I think I made a conscious effort this year to do justice to myself because I felt I could have done the last year better. The way I trained was much better this time around. Credit to the person who trained with me. I'm making a conscious effort to tell myself that I'm not done yet. When I went in, we needed 12 runs per over and had to keep going. I train for these situations. 

To stay calm and know whom you can takedown. I've tried to play as much white-ball cricket as possible and prepare as many scenarios as possible. So many people have spent time with me in this journey leading up to the tournament, and it's the work that mostly goes unnoticed. I think T20 cricket it's mostly premeditating, but you also need to be clear about where to target."

Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis applauded Karthik for his outstanding show. He stated that Karthik is one of the key players in the team. He also lauded Chahal, who bowled a stunning spell in the game.

He said: "To pull it out of nowhere, you need some great characters, and DK is as great a character as you can get. His composure under pressure is amazing. He is really calm and such a great asset to us. We bowled well; up to the 18th, Jos got some good shots. We got a score that we thought was a bit above-par with the conditions and the surface spinning. We started quite well, though, but then Yuzi (Chahal) bowled really well to get them back in. 

But for me, the great thing about today once again was our ability to come back to win games out of nowhere. People think that since he (Shahbaz) is a small skinny guy, he can't hit it long, but he can smash it a long way. We didn't bowl him today because of the wet ball and left-hander being around, but he'll definitely play a long part in this season. Virat is up there (in terms of fitness). I'll tell that for his fans."

On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson backed his side despite the defeat. He also stated that he couldn't say where they lost the game but applauded the star batters - Jos Buttler and Hetmyer. Their quickfire knocks provided them with a decent total after 20 overs.

Sanju Samson said: "I can't point out one moment where we lost the game. I thought it was a great effort to put up that total on such a slow wicket after losing the toss. Jos and Hetmyer batted brilliantly at the death. Taking the match to the last over with the dew coming in was also a great effort. 

(On whether he asked the umpires to change the ball because of dew) No, I didn't. I was confident about my bowlers. DK is someone with a lot of experience. We just need to take our time to set the field. Lots of positives to take out of this loss, and we can learn many things as well."