Former batter Dinesh Karthik expressed his opinion on recent criticism of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma due to their dismal performance in the test series against New Zealand. The Indian team lost all the games in a test series involving three or more games for the first-time ever on home soil.
Skipper Rohit could not provide good starts to the team, putting middle-order under pressure. ‘Hitman’ garnered only 90 runs in six innings, and looked like a pale shadow of himself. He came under fire due to his defensive captaincy as well, which allowed the Black Caps to win sessions and eventually the game easily.
Meanwhile, Kohli scored 93 runs in six outings, with a top knock of 70 in Bengaluru. The right-hander completely failed against Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel, who spun the web around him in the final two tests.
With both batters having already retired from T20 format, there has been growing calls on them hanging their boots in Tests as well. However, as per reports, the selectors will take a final call on the duo’s test career based on their performances in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which is slated to start on November 22.
In an interaction on Cricbuzz, Karthik feels it’s too early for the detractors to call on the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. He feels they should be given enough time to make a comeback and prove their merit in the red-ball format. The 39-year-old said:
“What is the hurry boss? One bad series and already calling for the heads. I don’t think so. I think, if they don’t do well in the next 10 Test matches, then we will come back to this question and then it becomes a fair question, considering it’s going to be another domestic season. For the moment, I don’t think we need to group anyone anywhere.”
“We lack in ability to play spin” – DK on Indian batters’ struggles
Dinesh Karthik put forth his opinion on the veteran spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. He felt that they underperformed as opposed to their brilliant track record in home conditions.
Karthik also pressed on the need of the Indian batters to improve their defensive against the spinners, which has gone for a toss due to the T20 format and flat pitches.
“Our bowling was not up to the mark. Our spinners, especially the experienced ones, didn’t have a great series. Batting, without a doubt, we lack in ability to play spin. The defence game overall around the world has definitely decreased because of the white-ball formats and that goes without saying but the Indian players have struggled to cope against spin,” Karthik added in the aforementioned interaction.
Recently, former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan also pointed out the Indian domestic games are being held on grassy pitches or flat tracks, which is the key reason for the batters struggling to fare well against the spinners.
