Dinesh Karthik – RCB’s flare of hope in a clouded sky

Bengaluru became the focal point of cricket lovers on April 15 as it rained boundaries at the M Chinnaswamy, courtesy of a swashbuckling clash between RCB and SRH. Batting first, SRH posted a mammoth 287, the highest score in the history of IPL. Chasing that, RCB were off to a flyer, thanks to a barnstorming display from Kohli and Faf du Plessis up front. However, when all hopes were dim and the darkness closed in at 122/5, Dinesh Karthik brought them flares that eventually culminated into an exploding volcano.

For the ones who missed, here’s how our Finisher Supreme showed why he is still one of the finest in business. At the ripe age of 38, DK has tapped into a previously uncharted territory of shots which simply remained elusive under the widespread banner of ‘impossible’. From defying gravity to rewriting the laws of physics, the blaze from DK’s blade possibly could have stirred forgotten giants in their sleep.

It all started with a maximum against Markande as he shuffled across and slapped one sliding down the legside into the stands for a maximum. He followed that with a switch-hit against the former and that too in a well-orchestrated googly, just your average DK things.

Karthik was just warming up though as he went hammer and tongs after Jaydev Unadkat, rocking him for 19 runs in the 14th over. Anything that landed in the slot was being parked out of the ground and anything that was away from the slot was tamed in equally brutal fashion.

Karthik pulled off the unthinkable in the 15th over when Natarajan pitched one on his pads as he rocked that one into the roofs, crashing it like an asteroid gone astray. Cummins wanted to pepper him with a barrage of shorties and our Finisher Supreme was relentless, pulling him for sport. In fact, such was the magnitude of his incredulity that he tonked Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a switch hit as it crashlanded into the stands for a maximum.

Before the flicker went off, DK rocked Natarajan for a six and a four, capping off what was a glorious outing in the making. It was through DK’s bat that flamed like a blazing sword under almost insurmountable circumstances. At times the journey is more fun than the destination and DK’s knock that night was a prime example.