CricketNews

“If India get through with the mindset of going hammer and tongs at the start…,” Dinesh Karthik says team should play fearless cricket to get the best out of their players

The T20I series between India and Sri Lanka is levelled at 1-1.

Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik said that the Indian team should play fearless cricket he said that Men in Blue should get through with the mindset of going hammer and tongs at the start and then solidifying through the middle and then finishing strong to get the best out of our batting.

“Team India are better off doing what they just did today,” Dinesh Karthik after India’s loss to Sri Lanka in the second T20I

The second T20I between India and Sri Lanka was a game to forget for the hosts. They displayed a poor performance in all three departments, which saw them losing the match by 16 runs and the series getting levelled at 1-1.

Bowling first, it was a horrendous outing for them as Sri Lankan batters took them to the cleaners with Pathum Nissanka (36) and Kusal Mendis (52) smashing 80 runs for the opening partnership. They, however, came back strongly and reduced them to 138/6.

Advertisement

But just when it seemed India would restrict them to a low total, the visitors’ skipper Dasun Shanaka (56) smashed a half-century in just 20 balls and took his team to a total of 206 runs. For hosts, Axar Patel was the pick of bowlers and returned with the figures of 2/24.

Chasing the target, they were even worse as they looked conservative and lost wickets in clusters which saw them tumbling at 57/5. Suryakumar Yadav (51) and Axar Patel (51) then brought India back to the game with their 89-run partnership but it wasn’t as they fell short of 16 runs.

Following their loss in the second T20I, Dinesh Karthik has urged India to play like they did in the first game and go after bowlers despite losing wickets. The keeper batter feels that the Men in Blue need to play fearlessly. Speaking to Cricbuzz, he said:

Advertisement

“I feel Team India is better off doing what they just did today, going all guns blazing at the start, losing some wickets, and then losing the game at the end, rather than playing steady without losing wicket. [It is] a template that we have been playing for some time now, and stack up lot through the middle and the end and then expect that to happen. We have had that and I feel we didn’t have the success we need.”

“If we get through this mindset of going hammer and tongs at the start, we can bring the best out of the players,” says Dinesh Karthik

India played with an aggressive approach in the first game. Despite losing wickets, they took the bowlers to the cleaners and eventually won the game. However, they were back to their conservative approach in the second game. Karthik feels If India gets through  this mindset of going hammer and tongs at the start, we can bring the best out of the players. He said:

“I still feel if we get through this mindset of going hammer and tongs at the start, and then solidifying through the middle and then finishing strong is the best way to get the best out of our batting. I feel we have a lot of venom in our batting, but for that to come through totally, the mindset needs to shift. We rather go down trying that way, than keep it to the end and then we succumb under pressure in crunch games.”

Advertisement

The third T20I between India and Sri Lanka will be played on Saturday (7th January) in Rajkot. It remains to be seen how India will approach that game.

Related Articles

Back to top button