The 300 boundary in the IPL will be breached sooner or later, veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik said on Saturday, underlining the changing standards of batting in the league over the past 17 years. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s total score of 287/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru is the highest total in the IPL so far, while a total of 300 has only happened once in the history of the shortest format. At last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, the Nepal team played against Mongolia and scored 314 points from three-point range.

“I think the ceiling keeps getting reworked and they push it higher,” Karthik said ahead of RCB’s clash with Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Sunday.

“The number of games played in the first 32 games of the tournament, 250, is the highest in the history of any tournament played in this format worldwide.

“It tells you that people are more fearless, people are more daring to push boundaries. I wouldn’t be surprised if we cross 300 very, very soon or this year (IPL) itself,” he added.

The obvious reason, Katic said, is that the player-influencing rule enhances the team’s batting prowess.

“You hit the ball deeper and it puts more pressure on the bowlers. The freedom to keep batting freed up a lot of young boys and they all hit some amazing shots.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added: “If you look at the standard of batting that has existed in the game over the last 17 years, it’s incredible how far it has evolved.”

RCB have won just one game in seven and their playoff hopes have waned as they must win all their remaining games to have any chance of finishing in the top four.

Kartik, however, said if their batsmen find form, then “the sky is the limit for them”.

“The belief is definitely there. If there is no belief, there is no point in participating in an event like the IPL. Every year there are several teams who try to establish themselves at this stage and there are many examples where they cannot stand up after they do. “Win the competition.

“We believe if we can do something special we can take that momentum and use it to boost our confidence.

“You need a lot of characters and players who have been performing well, as well as players who haven’t started performing well yet, to find form. When you get some players firing, the sky is the limit,” he added.

RCB’s string of defeats has not dampened their confidence and Karthik said they remain a close-knit team.

“The whole team is very tight-knit as a unit. I think it’s a really hard effort from Andy Flower and Faf Du Plessis.

“The best part is that Virat is a great leader and he is doing everything he can to move the team forward and be in good spirits, whether it’s laughing and joking or talking to the players and trying and make them feel better.

“We’re doing our best, that’s what we can definitely say and I think all the fans watching know we’re doing the best we can. That’s the sport, not everything goes your way,” he explain.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)