Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Dinesh Karthik and Punjab Kings’ Liam Livingstone have been in terrific touch this season. Both batsmen have scored crucial runs for their teams, but Karthik seems to have been the more consistent performer. Having said that on the day that these two teams met, Livingstone proved to be miles ahead of the Indian finisher, scoring 70 off just 42 balls to take Punjab to a huge total of 209 runs.
This prompted the debate about the best finisher in the Indian Premier League this season and former India player, RP Singh weighed in on the debate, arguing that Karthik was much ahead of Livingstone in terms of overall impact.
“Dinesh Karthik was my batchmate in the U-19 World Cup. He used to get run-out then as well, there’s no change in that! (chuckles) Whenever he thinks too much, he makes mistakes. That’s the kind of character he is. Give him less time to think, he’ll do really well. When he knows he has to play 10 off the 20 deliveries left, he brings out his best performance.”
“You know how a cocky guys does it? He thinks he has to do it and will hit whenever the ball is on his radar. You’ll know it from his body language. He’s the best player for this number of remaining deliveries. And if you compare him with Liam Livingstone, I believe he has the upper hand because he has played a lot of knocks and won his team matches.”
At the moment, Karthik has 285 runs from 13 matches at a strike rate of 192, while Livingstone has scored 385 runs from 12 matches at a strike rate of 180. Livingstone famously hit Mohammad Shami for a massive 117 meter six, finishing the chase with a 28 run over against the veteran Indian pacer who has bowled superbly this season.
