IPL 2020 | Two three poor games doesn't matter; will back Narine, states Dinesh Karthik

Kolkata Knight Riders walked into this encounter, on the back of a huge loss against Delhi Capitals in the short Stadium in Sharjah. At the other end, there was Chennai Super Kings, who had trashed a strong Kings XI Punjab by ten wickets, which put all the pressure on Dinesh Karthik and co. However, Karthik was totally unfazed by the situation, as he won the toss and elected to bat first. 

Batting first, the Knight Riders, on the back of a brilliant 51-ball 81 by Rahul Tripathi scored 167 runs from their innings. With CSK racing away at 99/1, the pressure was on Dinesh Karthik, as the skipper to change the fortune of the side. The Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper's planning and match-ups for the game ensured that the Chennai middle-order could not run away with the game. Along with the decision to bowl Andre Russell in the last two overs ensured that KKR won the game by ten runs. 

Following the game, the right-handed batsman admitted that it was good to see Tripathi do the job at the top of the batting order. Alongside that, Karthik also admitted that management is backing Narine to do the job despite the two-three bad games. On top of that, the KKR skipper stated that having Andre Russell helped him with the batting-order, which was fluid today. The left-handed Narine walked into bat at No.4, ahead of both Russell and Eoin Morgan, which ensured that they had their batsmen towards the end. 

"There are some key players for every team. Narine is one for us. Least we can do is back him. 2-3 poor games, doesn't matter. Good to see Tripathi do the job at the top. Good thing about Russ is he's very versatile. He can bat slightly up, slightly down. Our batting is very fluid. I started at three, today I batted at seven. The way those guys batted at the start, they batted very well. Back end I've a lot of trust in Sunil and Varun, paid off," said Dinesh Karthik in the post-match presentation.