IPL: We have set an example of how not to give up, says Dinesh Karthik

There may have been teams coming back from the dead to make the IPL play-offs in the past, but the story of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) this season would rate as one of the most extraordinary ones.

Dinesh Karthik, the affable elder stateman of the side, felt they could well have set a benchmark for other teams in future to bounce back from being no-hopers at one stage.

‘’Every year in this tournament, when you hit the seven-game mark, there will be one or two teams which would have probably won one or two and they will look to us and say: RCB did it. That was special. We are going to try and repeat what RCB did,’’ DK said at the dressing room chat after their 27-run win over Chennai Super Kings.

‘’And that is what we all play cricket for, sport for, where people follow us and believe us that they can do something special. It is hard. It is not going to be easy, I can tell any team that. What we have achieved today is very, very special. We should be really proud of ourselves, winning six out of six,” said the veteran.

Heading onto the Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday (where they would play either Rajasthan Royals or Sunrisers Hyderabad), Karthik feels RCB have given themselves the opportunity to break the 16-year-old heartbreak once again.

“When we get on that flight to Ahmedabad, we have a job to do. We have it within our grasp to do something that people will remember us for many decades. It will be a journey where people will say, ‘wow, that RCB team was special.’’

The rain-affected game in Bengaluru on Saturday, which is being talked about as one of the best-ever in IPL history, brought out the new-found character in RCB. Their batters overcame a rain-break, had to cope with the turning ball on resumption while there was a heartwarming sub-plot in the resurgence of Yash Dayal after his humiliation at the hands of Rinku Singh last year.

“This has been one of the marquee games for many, many years. It is fair to say they have found a way sometimes to get ahead of us. Coming into this game there was a sense of quiet confidence about us, playing the defending champions, and the way we played we should be really proud of ourselves, right up to the last ball,” Karthik said.

Hailing RCB as the best fielding unit, Karthik brought up the catching heroics of captain Faf du Plessis and Swapnil Singh. “We can proudly say we are the best fielding team in this tournament without a doubt. That catch, Faf, was special. Swapnil’s catch as well, when it mattered the most, that was serious. Most importantly as a team we did phenomenally well, staying there in the game,” Karthik said, while also praising Dayal on his excellent last over for closing out the game.