IPL 2018: KKR vs RCB: 5 talking points

#4 Dinesh Karthik's IPL captaincy debut

Dinesh Karthik got off to a winning start on his captaincy debut with KKR

With Gautam Gambhir moving back to Delhi Daredevils after seven successful seasons with KKR, the Kolkata-based franchise roped in Dinesh Karthik into their side at the 2018 IPL auctions.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was also made the captain of the franchise - a decision that was met with mixed responses from the cricket fanatics.

The match against RCB was Karthik's first game as KKR skipper and the 32-year-old had the perfect start as he led his side to a winning start in IPL 2018.

Karthik used as many as seven bowlers to try and arrest the RCB scoring, and his decision to throw the ball to Nitish Rana in the 15th over, proved to be a masterstroke, as he got rid of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli off successive deliveries, thereby turning the course of the match.

Karthik would be hoping to make better use of his pace bowlers next time around, especially bringing in someone like Mitchell Johnson into the attack much earlier. The way he rotated the bowlers also meant that Andre Russell only bowled two overs, despite conceding just 10 runs.

Karthik also played his part with the bat playing composed innings and remained unbeaten on 35 off 29 balls as he calmly led his side to victory despite the loss of wickets towards the end.