Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, has expressed his belief that the team can become an unstoppable force in the ongoing IPL 2023 if they can combine all their individual performances into a cohesive team effort. Although RCB is currently in sixth position on the points table with eight points from eight games, they are hoping to avenge their earlier defeat against the Lucknow Super Giants in their upcoming match on Monday evening at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Middle order struggles
While Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell have been consistently performing well for RCB, the middle order has not been able to contribute on a consistent basis. Karthik and Suyash Prabhudessai's performances in the lower order have also been below average. On the RCB Game Day, Karthik admitted that the next few games would be challenging for the batters and that the team must figure out a way to score the necessary runs to defend their totals.
In their quest to climb up the points table, RCB needs to focus on improving their middle-order performance. Kohli, du Plessis, and Maxwell have been the backbone of the team, but their success alone has not been enough to win matches. If RCB's middle order can start contributing more consistently, the team would become much more competitive.
Time on the road
Karthik also emphasized the importance of defending totals in the upcoming matches. With the pitches getting tougher to bat on, RCB must work on developing a strategy to score the necessary runs to defend their totals. If the team can work together and perform to their potential, RCB would be a tough team to beat.
"Some good meetings went around. This is a very interesting part of the tournament, an interesting place in the table as well, the Bangalore ground has been 50-50 for us. I think it has been a hard ground for the bowlers at times, and for the middle-order batters too," Karthik said in a video posted on RCB social media account.
"These next few games are going to be very challenging for the batting unit as well, the wickets might help the bowlers a lot more, so we have got to find a way to get the runs that are required for us to defend totals and score the runs the opposition has scored.
"You see the leaderboard, in the Purple Cap and the Orange Cap, we are right up there not just one or two at times, so this shows how well we have played if we can find a way to string together all those (individual) performances as a team, I think we will be unstoppable," he added.
Looking to reset
RCB will be coming to the match against LSG on the back of a defeat as they slumped down to KKR after failing to scale the desired heights.
Lucknow Super Giants, who are stationed in the second position of the points table with 10 points from the eight games, will be coming afresh on the back of a huge 56-run win over Punjab Kings.
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