Dinesh Karthik questions the place of the Indian batters after yet another poor batting display in 3rd BGT Test

India’s home Test winning streak came to an end yesterday when they were defeated by Australia by nine wickets. Australia was able to demonstrate greater effort and talent with the bat on a Day 1 pitch that began to spin early, while the Indians found it difficult to compete in both their innings. India ultimately set a target of 76, which the tourists easily attained.

​​With 185 runs, Axar Patel, who bats at number seven or below, is second in the series in terms of run scoring. Only Rohit Sharma, who struck a century in the first Test, is ahead of him, and Virat Kohli is India’s next-best scorer after Axar. However, Kohli has only amassed 111 runs at an average of 22.20 in five innings. 

Ravichandran Ashwin also saved Team India with an unbeaten 42 as they appeared to be heading towards a shocking loss to Bangladesh in the second of the two Test matches they played there at the end of last year. That time as well, the form and consistency of the Indian batters came into question.

What did Dinesh Karthik speak about the performance of the Indian batters?

Indian team wicketkeeper, Dinesh Karthik spoke on CricBuzz about the team India’s collapse in recent matches. He said, “We cannot hide from the fact that India’s top 7 haven’t got the scores that they would like. We are talking about consistent collapses. Is batting difficult on this pit? Most definitely. But as a team, they have chosen to play on these pitches which means they need to back themselves on them. They are capable of it, a lot of the players in isolation have probably played on tougher pitches and succeeded but playing international cricket is a different ball game.”

The right-handed batter then spoke about the confidence of the Indian batters, which might have gotten low due to such form. He said, “When you get out a couple of times there are so many doubts that come, the confidence gets low. And then, to go out there and still back yourself just to play those big shots to get away from pressure can be really hard. I completely empathise with the Indian batters, it is hard work, but that is what Test cricket is.”