Dinesh Karthik keeping up with the proceedings in Commonwealth Games

Being the captain of an IPL franchise is not an easy task. The skipper carries his team along with the expectations of millions of fans. Some days results go your way while things just don’t happen on other days. The skipper has to lead his team from the front and instill confidence him his players even on days when the team is razed to the ground with little hope of bouncing back.

The Kolkata Knight Riders found a new captain in Dinesh Karthik for the eleventh edition. The Tamil Nadu born opener is in good form as he was on the back of a thrilling series win in the Nidahas Trophy against Bangladesh. Karthik had a topsy-turvy start to his captaincy stint with KKR as they won the first match against RCB quite comfortably and then went on to lose a thriller to CSK.

Chase for Gold

The wicketkeeper will be looking to Australia before heading to Eden Gardens as his wife Dipika Pallikal would be playing for the squash mixed doubles gold with Saurav Ghosal in the Commonwealth Games at the Oxenford Studios show courts. Pallikal is also two wins away from defending her women’s doubles gold with Joshna Chinappa. They play the semi-finals on Saturday morning. So before dealing with someone like Billy Stanlake or Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Karthik’s focus will be on the performance of his wife.

“I know that Dipika is in the finals of the mixed doubles and in the semi-finals of the women’s doubles. So, c’mon she is my wife, I know that much.” Karthik said in a media conference ahead of the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

KKR’s encounter against the Sunrisers promises to be a closely fought encounter as the Sunrisers are on the back of a two-match winning spree while the Knight Riders will be having the advantage of playing at home. KKR need players other than Andre Russell to step up as the Hyderabad based franchise has the capability of rattling the batting lineup with some top class bowlers.

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