IPL 2022: "Going to be a very, very interesting battle between Varun Chakravarthy and me" - Dinesh Karthik

New Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) recruit Dinesh Karthik is raring to compete with his former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) teammate and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in IPL 2022.

Karthik captained KKR for two-and-a-half years (2018 to mid-2020), overseeing Chakravarthy's rise from an exciting talent to a T20 World Cup starter for India. The 36-year-old has also kept wickets for Chakravarthy while playing for Tamil Nadu. In a video interaction with Cricbuzz, Karthik lauded the spinner's recent growth and said he's ready for a "very, very interesting battle" with him.

He said:

"One rivalry I am looking forward to is with Varun Chakravarthy. Obviously, I have been with KKR and I've been together with him for a long, long time. Now, I'll be playing against him... It's going to be an interesting one. He's somebody who's grown as a player, done well for himself, and now has represented India in a World Cup. So I am sure it's going to be a very, very interesting battle between Varun and me."

Speaking on his preparations ahead of the new season, Karthik sounded a confident note, highlighting his Vijay Hazare Trophy numbers this year - 376 runs from eight matches at an average of 53.71 and a strike rate of 98.68. He said after weeks of practice in Mumbai, he's looking forward to some game time now.

Karthik said:

"Obviously I was a part of the Vijay Hazare tournament and after that, I've been practicing a lot in Bombay and I have given it everything I have and I am very happy with where I stand in terms of practice. It's now time to get into game time and try and do the best I can which is obviously something that's very exciting and I am looking forward to it."

This will be the wicketkeeper-batter's 15th year in the IPL. He has played at least 13 games every season, scoring 4046 runs at an average and strike rate of 25.77 and 129.72 respectively. For RCB, he'll play the key role of a middle-order rock and an experienced finisher.

lick here to view the IPL 2022 stats.

---

"The most loyal fans" - Dinesh Karthik sends a message to RCB followers

Karthik also cited the example of the recent "RCB Unbox" event, calling the franchise's fans "arguably the most loyal" in the IPL and worthy of making other IPL teams envious. He explained:

"I think [they are] arguably the most loyal fans. We had a small event called the RCB Unbox before the season and the number of people that turned up... we must understand that there was a Test match literally round the corner and there were as many people in RCB unbox as they were in that Test watching India and Sri Lanka play."

The 36-year-old signed off by saying:

"So that is a big giveaway for me to say that they love RCB and we as players are looking forward to seeing all of them on the ground... It will be great to play in front of a crowd. RCB is [a franchise] whose pride is in a loyal fanbase that many other teams would be envious of so we are really looking forward to doing well for them and putting a smile on their faces."

RCB's IPL 2022 schedule will begin against the Punjab Kings on March 27.