Dinesh Karthik makes me feel like I want to go back and play some cricket again: Ab de Villiers hails RCB star

LSG vs RCB: AB De Villiers has lauded Dinesh Karthik for his form and finishing skills in the IPL 2022 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. AB de Villiers said that Karthik has almost made him feel like playing cricket again.

Former RCB star AB de Villiers has hailed Dinesh Karthik as a '360 degree' player, saying that RCB keeper makes him feel like he wanted to go back and play some cricket again.

Notably, Virat had told Karthik that AB de Villiers would be proud to see him finishing games for RCB in IPL. Karthik has donned the finisher's hat for RCB and has been hitting the ball fluently for his new franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore this season. The veteran wicketkeeper has produced effective knocks of 32, 14, 44, 7, 34, and 66 with an astonishing strike rate of 209.57. By remaining unbeaten in five of the six innings, he is averaging 197.00.

"The form he is at this moment and he has already won RCB 2-3 games. He looks like 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 man, he looks in good form and he plays around the wicket 360 degrees. He almost makes me feel like I want to go back and play some cricket again, watching him play. He gets me excited, plays under pressure in the middle order and he's got a lot of experience and if he keeps his form up there is a good chance that RCB are going a long way up," he said.

AB admitted that he was shocked to see Dinesh Karthik batting for Bangalore in IPL 2022 adding that he has had no cricket exposure in the last few months and was commentating in England before the second leg of IPL 2021.

"I was incredibly surprised and I didn't expect it. I have always known that he is a very capable player, a nitty-gritty kind of a guy. He likes the high-pressure situations and he's a busy player at the wicket. But he hasn't played a lot of cricket. The last time I saw him before IPL he was commentating in the UK. He wasn't playing a lot of domestic cricket and I though he is possibly at the end of his career finishing. But he surprised us all I think with the intent and energy,"