Dinesh Karthik credits Sunil Gavaskar, Simon Doull for awakening Virat Kohli's fierce avatar in IPL 2024

Veteran India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has heaped praise on his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Virat Kohli for his outstanding performance in the IPL 2024. The former RCB batter said that Kohli had a modest start to this season, but heavy criticisms from the cricket experts fueled his passion and drive, awakening his fierce competitive spirit.

Karthik further hailed Kohli's ability to use criticism as motivation, transforming it into a fiery determination that powers his performance on the field. Known for his intense demeanor, Kohli's presence is both inspiring and intimidating on the field.

I can write a book on how Virat Kohli was this year: Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz: “I can write a book on how he was this year. He started okay but thanks to people like Simon Doull and a few others, they just really spurred him on. And you don't want to see that side of Virat Kohli. I think he thrives on that. He is someone who inadvertently wants to hold on to certain things to do well.

He loves proving people wrong, and even though he might not come out and say it, it really fuels his passion and he's like a molten lava coming out. He's fiery and you don't want to be anywhere close to it because you're going to get burnt for sure because he's done this time and time again.”

Throughout the season, apart from his exceptional batting skills, Kohli's influence was palpable, from the way he energized his teammates to excel to his interactions during strategic timeouts, where his intensity was unmistakable. He won the Orange Cap Trophy for being the leading run-scorer in the IPL 2024 with 741 runs from 15 games for the RCB.

Dinesh Karthik says, 'I doff my hat to Virat Kohli'

Karthik emphasized the impact of Kohli's leadership on RCB, saying his presence on the field is a game-changer and his ability to motivate the players is just invaluable. He believes that both RCB and its fans are fortunate to have such a dedicated and passionate player on their team.

He signed off by saying, “You can speak about RCB, the success, and all of that; it is not happening without that man. I'm not saying this with his batting. It's the intimidating feeling that he gives when he's on the field, the way he pushes fielders, if you ever had a mic in one of those timeouts, my god! I doff my hat to him. To be doing that in the 17th year of IPL, stand up and applaud the man. RCB and its fans should be grateful to have a guy like that.”

Notably, Kohli will be next seen in action in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and Caribbean, where Team India will kick off its campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York. However, the former Indian skipper is currently on a mini-break, and he will travel to the USA at the end of this month for the upcoming mega event, starting on June 1.