Dinesh Karthik’s form in IPL 2022 has left everyone around the world to sit up and take notice. As of now, Karthik has scored 210 runs at an average of 210 and a strike rate of 205.88 in IPL 2022. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had big boots to fill but Dinesh Karthik has ensured that RCB doesn’t miss AB De Villiers, who retired after last season.

Not only RCB fans, but even de Villiers is also highly impressed with the performance of the veteran wicket-keeper batter. The former Proteas cricketer believes that Karthik is in the form of his life and hailed him as a “360 degree” player. AB de Villiers also admitted that watching him play wants him to return to the sport again.

“I think he has won 2-3 games for RCB already and he is in the form of his life. I don’t know where that comes from because he hasn’t played a lot of cricket. But he played all around the wicket, 360 degrees and it almost makes me feel like I want to go back and play cricket again,” said AB de Villiers about Dinesh Karthik while speaking to VUSport Streaming.

“He gets me excited and bats under a lot of pressure in the middle-order. He has a lot of experience. If he keeps his form, RCB have a good chance of going a long way here,” added de Villiers.

Dinesh Karthik has surprised us all – AB de Villiers

The former RCB player also feels that if Dinesh Karthik is able to maintain his form with great consistency, RCB once again has a great chance to qualify for playoffs and go deep into the tournament. AB de Villiers admitted that he was shocked to see Dinesh Karthik bat with such great consistency and energy despite the fact that he wasn’t playing a lot of cricket.

The 38-year-old also appreciated the pressure handling skills of Karthik while batting in the middle order and his busy play around the wicket. “He has surprised us all, I think. The intent that he’s shown, the energy, the passion for the game – you can see it from a country mile away. And if a player plays like that – that kind of confidence, the passion and hunger – he’s always dangerous,”  De Villiers concluded.

Written by Harsh Gupta

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