'Wanted to retire out to get Dinesh Karthik in' - Faf du Plessis high in praise for Bangalore keeper-batter

Bangalore faced off Hyderabad in the 54th match of the Indian T20 League. The Faf du Plessis-led team registered a 67-run win in the match. Batting first, they set a huge total of 192 runs, owing to the performances of the skipper and Dinesh Karthik. The latter played the perfect cameo of 30 runs from eight balls after he walked in to bat in the 19th over. He hit four sixes and a four in the innings.

During the post-match presentation, Du Plessis made an exciting revelation. He said that he wanted to retire out and let Dinesh Karthik have a go in the final overs. However, Glenn Maxwell's wicket in the 19th over got Dinesh Karthik in, and his special cameo helped the team reach a big total.

Surprised by Du Plessis' revelation, post-match presenter Harsha Bhogle said, "Retiring out?" Adding to it, the Bangalore skipper said, "Yes. The wicket was too tricky. It was not one of those wickets where you could just come in, but DK got lucky as his catch was dropped. And after that, he took them apart."

"If Karthik keeps batting like that and hitting sixes, everyone wants him to get in and bat for as long as possible. He is so clear," Du Plessis added while praising Dinesh Karthik.

Coming back to the match, Du Plessis scored 73 runs in 50 balls. Rajat Patidar (48 runs in 38 balls), Glenn Maxwell (33 runs in 24 balls), and Dinesh Karthik (30 runs in eight balls) also played important knocks. In the chase, except for Rahul Tripathi (58 runs in 37 balls), nobody could do much. The orange army was dismissed for 125, handing Bangalore a 67-run win.

The first instance of a player retiring out in the Indian T20 League took place this season. Rajasthan called back Ravichandran Ashwin in the game against Lucknow to send in Riyan Parag. This move generated a lot of attention, and it was believed that many players would employ it in the future matches.