Tonight's win against Rajasthan Royals saw his team zoom to the second place but Delhi Daredevils player Dinesh Karthik today warned his teammates not to get carried away.
Tonight's win against Rajasthan Royals saw his team zoom to the second place but Delhi Daredevils player Dinesh Karthik today warned his teammates not to get carried away.
"We have reached the second spot but honestly there is very less difference between the other teams. Some teams have played seven matches, some have played eight and I think we shouldn't get carried away by the points table. We still have six matches and we will look to do well in them to reach the semis," Karthik told reporters after guiding his team to a 67-run victory with his swashbuckling 38-ball 69 that also earned him the Man of the Match award.
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The Daredevils were tottering at 67 for four at one stage before Karthik bailed them out and the batsman said his team would have to work on this aspect to enhance their chances of advancing to the semifinals of the IPL III.
"We are losing two many wickets in the powerplay, which puts pressure on the batsman who come up next. Today also we lost four wickets early. So we have to work on this area if we have to reach the semis," he said. Asked how did he approached his innings today, Karthik said, "I did nothing different. Actually when you have someone like Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) at the other end, it makes a difference. I really enjoying playing under him. We had planned to delay playing our shots and I just listened to him."
During Delhi's innings there was some confusion as Karthik was sent back from the crease by the umpires as Kedar Jadhav took the strike after the fall of Paul Collingwood. Karthik cleared the air saying Jadhav had stepped in the playing arena first so he was asked to bat.
"I was ready but Jadhav had already stepped in so I was sent back. It was a funny little confusion in the middle," he said. Karthik also heaped praise on David Warner, who took as many as four catches and was also instrumental in the run-out of skipper Shane Warne.
"It was amazing. It's not too often that one takes four catches in a Twenty20 match and he made it look so easy at the end. Last match he contributed with the bat and today with his fielding," he said.
Rajasthan Royals' high-performance director Jeremy Snape admitted it was a comprehensive defeat but refused to read too much into it.
"It was a comprehensive defeat. They were far more superior. It brought us back to the earth. They played smart cricket but there is nothing to be worried about. It is just a setback we will surely bounce back," he said.
Snape also didn't blame the toss for the lose. "May be statistic indicates toss is very important here but the way we lost and failed in all the departments, I don't think, we can really blame the toss," he said.
Asked if Rajasthan's batting is too much dependent on Yusuf Pathan, Snape said it wasn't so and they have a handful of players who can win them matches.
u00a0"We are not dependent on any one. We have a handful of capable players. It is just that we haven't been able to accurately implement out strategies in this match. But we will work hard and we have our next match against Chennai and we will hope to do well," he said.
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