"He has been a rock" - RCB's Mike Hesson on Dinesh Karthik stepping into the shoes of AB de Villiers  

Mike Hesson, the Director of Cricket Operations for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), recently highlighted Dinesh Karthik's significant contribution to the success of the franchise in IPL 2022.

RCB shared a video on their social media handles in which Mike Hesson talked about how RCB needed someone to step up in the absence of AB de Villiers. He pointed out that Karthik has excelled in the finisher's role and the side have benefited immensely from his batting exploits.

Hesson said:

"Dinesh Karthik has been a rock that you need when you miss a guy like AB de Villiers. We talked about how we are going to replace de Villiers, and we know we are not doing that, but Karthik has been exceptional in terms of finishing."

Karthik has been one of the top performers with the bat for RCB in this year's league. He has, on multiple occasions, guided his team to victory with his swashbuckling batting towards the backend of the innings. The right-hander has mustered 287 runs from 14 games at a fantastic strike-rate of 191.33.

The veteran keeper-batter also made a comeback into the national side thanks to his inspiring performances in IPL 2022. He has been named in Team India's squad for the upcoming home T20I series against South Africa.

"Mohammed Siraj hasn't been quite at his best, but has still had some impactful performances" - Mike Hesson on the RCB pacer

Mohammed Siraj has struggled for form in the ongoing IPL season. The right-arm pacer has been guilty of leaking runs aplenty during the team's league stage games. However, Hesson opined that the bowler has made an impact by picking up wickets during critical situations.

He added:

"Mohammed Siraj hasn't been quite at his best but has still had some impactful performances, especially through the middle, which have helped us at times."

The 28-year-old has just eight wickets to his name from 13 games. He has an economy rate of 9.82. It is worth mentioning that Bangalore dropped Siraj from their playing XI for the must-win encounter against Gujarat Titans (GT).

Watch the full video here: