“Coach has thrown his captain and team under the bus” - Dinesh Karthik reacts to Sulakshan Kulkarni’s comments on Tamil Nadu’s Ranji defeat

Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has expressed disappointment over Tamil Nadu coach Sulakshan Kulkarni’s comments following their semifinal loss to Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy 2024. According to Kulkarni, Tamil Nadu lost the game after the toss on Day 1 itself after captain R Sai Kishore had elected to bat first in helpful conditions for the bowlers.

Mumbai beat Tamil Nadu by an innings and 70 runs in the second semifinal of the Ranji Trophy 2024 at the Bandra Kurla Complex Ground in Mumbai. Batting first after winning the toss, Tamil Nadu were bundled out for 146 on the opening day. They fought hard with the ball, but Mumbai recovered well to post 378 and gain a massive lead. Tamil Nadu were then bowled out for 162 in their second innings.

Reacting to Kulkarni’s comments on Tamil Nadu’s comprehensive defeat, Karthik, who also represents the same state in domestic cricket, tweeted:

“This is soo WRONG. This is so disappointing from the coach. ... instead of backing the captain who has brought the team to the semis after 7 yrs and thinking it's a start for good things to happen, the coach has absolutely thrown his captain and team under the bus.”

After being bowled out for 146, Tamil Nadu did brilliantly to reduce Mumbai to 106-7, with captain Sai Kishore (6-99) running through the top and middle order.

However, Shardul Thakur (109 off 105) and Tanush Kotian (89*) put Mumbai in command with excellent knocks. Thakur was named the Player of the Match for scoring a hundred and claiming four wickets.

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“We lost the Ranji Trophy semifinal at 9 am on day one” - Tamil Nadu coach Sulakshan Kulkarni

After Tamil Nadu’s disappointing performance in the Ranji Trophy 2024 semifinal against Mumbai, Kulkarni questioned captain Sai Kishore’s decision to bat first after winning the toss.

"I always speak straightforward - we lost the match at 9 o'clock on day one. The moment I saw the wicket, I exactly knew what we were going to get. Everything was set. We won the toss, as a coach, as a Mumbaikar, I know the conditions well. We should have bowled, but the captain had some different instinct," the Tamil Nadu coach was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"When I saw that they had played on a different pitch in the quarter-final and what wicket they gave, (that) moment I realized that this is a seaming-friendly wicket and it was going to be a very tough match, we would have to play really well to win this game. Ultimately he (Sai Kishore) is the boss. I can give my feedback and inputs (on) the kind of wickets and Mumbai's mindset also," he added.

Batting first, Tamil Nadu lost four wickets for 17 inside 11 overs in the semi-final against Mumbai and never recovered.