Having played a match-winning knock against Rajasthan Royals (RR), veteran Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Dinesh Karthik said he is making a conscious effort to tell himself that he is not done yet.
Chasing 170 to win, RCB were tottering at 87/5 when Karthik produced the magic. The 36-year-old shared a 67-run stand with Shahbaz Ahmed to put the Bangalore-based franchise on the brink of victory.
While Shahbaz fell for 26-ball 45, Karthik (44* off 23 balls) held the one end firmly and took his team over the line alongside Harshal Patel (9*) with four wickets in hand and five balls to spare.
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"I think I made a conscious effort this year to do justice to myself because I felt that last year, I could have done better. The way I trained was much better this time around. Hats off to the person who trained with me. I'm making a conscious effort to tell myself that I'm not done yet," said Karthik in the post-match presentation.
"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. A lot of people have spent time with me on this journey, leading upto the tournament and it's the work that goes unnoticed mostly. I think T20 cricket, it's mostly premeditating but you also need to be clear about where to target," he added.
For his unbeaten knock, Dinesh Karthik was awarded Player-of-the-Match. Before this game, the right-hander played dazzling cameos of 32* and 14* for RCB against PBKS and KKR respectively.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will face Mumbai Indians in their next match on April 9.
(With ANI inputs)