Karthik praises young Knights after Royals rout

Despite his team scoring a comprehensive 37-run victory over Rajasthan Royals, for their second consecutive victory, in the IPL in Dubai on Wednesday, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik called for improvement in many aspects of the game.

He, however, praised youngsters Shivam Mavi and Shubman Gill for their good showing in the match.

"I wouldn't call it perfect. There was a lot of areas we could improve. It was a good game," Karthik said after the match.

"A lot of things pleased me - the way Gill started, Mavi bowled, the way (Andre) Russell batted, the way (Eoin) Morgan kept his head. The beautiful sight of the youngsters going for the catch, no matter how high it is."

He added, a couple of players made the pitch look better than it was.

Talking about the youngsters in his team, he said, "It's a very special thing - these boys, the journey they've gone through when not playing, and for them to just come out and express themselves with the bat and ball was incredible."

Asked about being sent in to bat by Royals captain Steve Smith after winning the toss, he replied: "We would have batted first; that was our plan.

"To put runs on the board was what we thought was the way forward on this ground."

Man-of-the-match Mavi, for his effort of 2 for 20, said, "When I started bowling, it was seaming. So I thought I'll stick to normal lines and lengths.

"Before the game we thought it would be flatter. So I just stuck to a length. Have played against these big stars before, but I knew it wasn't coming onto the bat."

Royals captain Smith said the match did not go according to plan but accepted that it can happen like that in T20 cricket.

"We have a few areas to improve on; disappointing tonight, but we need to keep moving forward. KKR like to chase, so we planned to put their death bowling under pressure but obviously couldn't do that as we lost too many wickets upfront.

"You could go one way or another (with the toss)."

He said his side did not adapt to the dimensions of the ground and also dropped a few catches that cost them dear.

"Few of us still thought we were playing in Sharjah. It did (feel a lot different); the far side is a very big side and we didn't see too many balls going there and the other side is slightly shorter.

"It is about forming whatever eleven is best for the conditions we are facing; we will wait and see," said Smith, adding that it was not a great battle with Pat Cummins.