Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik believes that Virat Kohli made the mistake by bringing in the spinners early against Ben Stokes in the second ODI, saying the left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya vs the English all-rounder match-up worked in favor of the left-hander in Pune.
Stokes might have missed out on a well-deserved hundred but caused enough damage to India in the second ODI, as the left-handed batsman hit 10 sixes against the spinning duo of Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav to notch up a brilliant knock of 99 runs off just 52 balls on Friday (March 26).
He also added 175 runs with the centurion Jonny Bairstow to help England beat India by 6 wickets to level the ongoing three-match ODI series against India in Pune.
Following the defeat, Karthik said Kohli made a mistake by bowling Krunal early to Stokes, saying if the English hard-hitter once gets going, then he takes any left-arm spinner in the world down.
Karthik said on Sky Sports: “When Ben Stokes walked in, I think Krunal Pandya hadn’t bowled. I’d felt that at that stage, maybe Shardul Thakur could have been brought for an over because he has this ability to pick up wickets, but he (Kohli) went for Krunal Pandya.”
He continued, “But the match-up is such that of Stokes get going, forget Krunal Pandya. Any left-arm spinner in the world, he (Stokes) takes them down. It was one of those days where it was hard to stop Stokes. It was almost as if every shot that he played, he was looking to hit a six.”
Meanwhile, it was an unforgettable outing for the Indian bowlers in the second ODI, but it was Kuldeep who had a really tough day as the wrist-spinner went wicketless and gave away 84 runs from 10 overs. He failed to take a wicket in his last two outings in the ongoing ODI series.
Reacting to Kuldeep’s struggle, Karthik noted: “Kuldeep, personally, the poor guy has had a tough time. He's been sitting out for a long time. He comes in, he's had a couple of games here. It's really not gone his way. But these things happen to international cricketers.”
He signed off by saying, “He needs to chin up, get stronger. He's got a couple of very important months not only in his red-ball career but also for his white-ball career in the form of IPL so he needs to do really well. Buck up and do the best in the next couple of months.”
