ICC World Cup 2019 | You need to play the conditions first and then the bowler, says Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik revealed that as a batsman, who essentially comes to the pitch in the death overs, it is important to first play the pitch conditions and then play the bowler. India gear up to play their final group match against Sri Lanka having already secured a spot in the semis at the World Cup.
India have done well in their ICC World Cup 2019 campaign thus far, having secured a semi-final berth after defeating Bangladesh in their last match itself. However, the Men in blue have had some problems with their middle batting order and have opted to go with Dinesh Karthik instead of all-rounder Kedar Jadhav in the game against Bangladesh.
With MS Dhoni coming under severe criticism for his batting style in the death overs, Karthik gave his opinion as to why it is difficult for batsmen to get the big runs in the death overs at the ongoing global showpiece.
"It depends first thing on the conditions. And also it depends a little bit on how many batsmen you have behind you. I think you have more freedom to play shots when you have people who can obviously play until the end.
"If you feel that it's important that you stay -- if you need to be the player to stay to the end, then you delay the inevitable and then make sure that you take on the bowlers at the stage where you feel that there won't be any loss for the team. So, A, you need to play the conditions. And, B, obviously the skill sets of the bowler, and then you've got to assess what the situation is and what your team needs and then react accordingly," Karthik was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz at the pre-match press conference.
As the pitches have showed signs of slowing down and the weather has become warmer with the passing overs, the World Cup has seen an upward increase in the use of cutters and slower bouncers. Karthik, who made WC debut fifteen years after making his ODI bow, admits that it can be a challenge to bat at the death.
"From a batsman's point of view, a power player will probably be able to hit that ball a longer distance because somebody who uses the pace of the ball that's a really hard ball to hit, basically. So, it's been a tricky ball in this World Cup, it's got a lot of wickets.
"I think it's a bit of both. When you're batting first, it's about seeing through the initial phase when the ball is new and then you have the ability to decide what the par score is and try and get there. When you're batting second, I think the wicket changes a bit, becomes slightly slower, helps the spinners a little bit. For a lot of the teams, they're bowling cross-seam and the wicket has been a little up-and-down as well. It's not been that easy to execute shots. And also this is a World Cup, so obviously there's a bit of scoreboard pressure, and I think a lot of teams have fallen prey to that as well," added Karthik.
