Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower said Dinesh Karthik is making a strong case for his inclusion in India's T20 World Cup squad. Karthik, who is playing his last season in the IPL, is the oldest active Indian cricketer - he had made his debut in 2004, three years before Rohit Sharma and four years before Virat Kohli's arrival on the international stage.

Karthik hasn't played for India since the last edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November 2022 but the way he has performed in IPL 2024, has got the fans and experts talking again. The 38-year-old is in scintillating form this season, scoring 226 runs in 7 matches at a strike rate of 205.

In the record 288-run chase against Sunriserd Hyderabad, RCB were struggling at 122 for 5 in 10 overs. From then on, Karthik played a magnificent innings of 83 off just 35 balls laced with five fours and seven sixes to the hosts to 262/7.

RCB fell 25 runs short but Flower was mighty impressed by the veteran cricketer's lion-heated effort. "Dinesh Karthik is really making a push for the World Cup team as well and is only getting better on the field," the former Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batter said on RCB Game Day.

‘Proud of the way we fought with the bat’: Flower

This was RCB's sixth loss in seven games this year but Flower stated that they will take positives out of the match and come back stronger in the upcoming game.

"I am really proud of the way we fought with the bat out there in the middle. We lost the game but I was really proud of the way we fought," said Andy Flower on RCB Game Day.

The head coach also recognized that the team will take a lot of confidence from the match after such a wonderful performance with the bat and every game is a knockout game for the team now in order to qualify for the playoffs of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League.

He remarked, "It was a really tough night in the field of course as they finished so powerfully that it probably took the wind out of our souls. We will have a think and we will come back stronger, It is obviously knockout time and every game is like a semi-final for us."

RCB will play their upcoming match in the IPL at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.

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