IPL 2024: Dinesh Karthik won't be surprised to see 300 runs on board

Dinesh Karthik. Pic/AFP

RCB's wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik said that 300 runs will be breached in the IPL soon following the evolving standard of batting throughout these 17 years.

In the IPL 2024, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 287 runs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru which is the highest total in the league's history. The 300-run mark was achieved only once in the T20 format.

Nepal scored 314 runs against Mongolia in the Asian Games 2023. "I think the ceiling is constantly getting reworked and they're pushing it much higher," Karthik said ahead of RCB's clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders here on Sunday.

"The number of 250s in the first 32 matches of the tournament has been the highest ever in the history of any tournament that's played across the world in this format.

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"It tells you that people are a lot more fearless, people take on the boundaries a lot more. I wouldn't be surprised if 300 is crossed very, very soon or in this year (of IPL) itself," he added.

Karthik also said that the impact player rule has strengthened the teams' batting.

"You're batting much deeper, which puts that much more pressure on the bowlers. The freedom to keep playing shots has liberated a lot of the young boys who are out there and they're all playing some phenomenal shots.

"The standard of batting if you take in the last 17 years this tournament has existed, it is unreal how well it's grown," added the cricketer-turned-commentator.

Coming to the IPL 2024 campaign of RCB, the side has won just one match out of seven games. They now need to win all the remaining matches for their chance to finish in the top four.

Karthik, however, said if their batters find form then "sky is the limit" for them.

"The belief is definitely there. If there's no belief there is no point playing a tournament like IPL. Every year there will be a couple of teams at this stage trying to find their feet and there have been so many instances when they picked up and won matches.

"We believe that if we can do something special we could get that momentum and use that to our confidence.

"You need a lot of characters and players who are consistently doing well and the players who have not started doing well to find form. And when you get a few players firing then the sky is the limit for you," he added.

Continous defeats for RCB in the IPL 2024 have not brought their confidence down and Karthik said they still remain as a close-knit unit.

"The team is very closely knit as a unit. I think that's something that Andy Flower and Faf Du Plessis have tried really hard. The best part about it is that Virat is such a good leader that he's doing all that he can to propel the team, keep it in good spirits, be it having a laugh and a joke or be it to speak to players and try and get their mood up a little bit. We're trying our best, it's something that we can definitely tell and I think all our fans who are watching are aware that we're doing everything we can. That's the sport, not everything goes in your way always," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)