'You will know it from his body language. He has the upper hand': Ex-India bowler compares between Karthik, Livingstone

The Royal Challengers Bangalore faced a heavy defeat at the hands of Punjab Kings in the 2022 Indian Premier League on Friday. In a 210-run chase, the RCB were restricted to 155/9 by the PBKS bowling attack, as Bangalore now face an uphill task in the race for playoffs. With only one game remaining, Bangalore can reach a maximum of 16 points in the table but have a negative Net Run Rate (NRR) of -0.323. Follow IPL 2022 Coverage

While Bangalore are currently fourth in the table, a couple of heavy losses in the league – including the one that came yesterday – can potentially hurt the side's chances. Nevertheless, there have been a number of positives for RCB this season and Dinesh Karthik's magnificent power-hitting in the finishing overs has been one of them.

The RCB bought Karthik in the mega auction preceding the season and the wicketkeeper-batter has scored 285 runs in 12 matches so far, with a strike rate of over 190.

Former Indian bowler Rudra Pratap Singh, who has played alongside Karthik during the former's international career, spoke in detail about the player after the game between RCB and PBKS; it was one of those rare days in IPL 2022 where Karthik failed to deliver for the side, as he was dismissed on run-a-ball 11.

“Dinesh Karthik was my batchmate in the U-19 World Cup. He used to get run-out then as well, there’s no change in that! (chuckles) Whenever he thinks too much, he makes mistakes. That’s the kind of character he is. Give him less time to think, he’ll do really well. When he knows he has to play 10 off the 20 deliveries left, he brings out his best performance," said RP Singh on Cricbuzz.

RP Singh also talked about the comparison between Karthik and Punjab Kings' Liam Livingstone, who has been one of the star performers for the side. Like Karthik, the English batter has also been a power-hitter for the side and recently hit the biggest six of the league so far (117m, against GT's Mohammed Shami).

“He thinks he has to do it and will hit whenever the ball is on his radar. You’ll know it from his body language. He’s the best player for this number of remaining deliveries. And if you compare him with Liam Livingstone, I believe he has the upper hand because he has played a lot of knocks and won his team matches," RP said when a comparison was made between the two players.