Captain Faf du Plessis revealed he contemplated retiring out in order to help Dinesh Karthik finish the innings with a flourish for Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede on Sunday.

Along with Du Plessis’ 73 not out off 50 balls, Karthik’s unbeaten 8-ball 30 propelled RCB — who donned their special green jersey (which they do once every season) as part of their ‘Go Green’ initiative — to 192 for 3 before the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga and Josh Hazlewood bundled Sunrisers Hyderabad out for 125.

“I was so tired that I wanted to get out and get DK in. We were even contemplating myself retiring as DK is in such a good form,” Du Plessis said at the post-match presentation.

“But then, we lost a wicket (that of Glenn Maxwell) which allowed DK to come in.”

Du Plessis once again emphasised the need for one of the top four batsmen in the team to lay a solid foundation. “What we’ve been trying to get better at is ensuring one of our top four batters create a base, especially as we have got some good hitters at the back.

“In the games where we didn’t do well, there was a big cluster of wickets falling in the Powerplay,” the skipper said.