"Played on tough pitches" - Dinesh Karthik on India's top order big guns' recent failures in Tests

Veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik recently pointed out how India's top-order batters have failed to score substantially in their recent appearances in Test cricket.

He opined that their string of poor performances is a result of playing on challenging wickets. Karthik suggested that their star batters' averages have dropped as they aren't able to score big hundreds even at home because of the rank turners.

Notably, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli endured batting failures in the first innings of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2023) final as well.

Karthik spoke about the matter during a discussion on Cricbuzz.

"They (Indian batters) have also played on tough pitches as we have seen, and obviously, that doesn't help their averages. But they kind of put themselves in a corner because when they have toured abroad and they haven't ended up winning the series, they put pressure back on them," he said.

"So, they have to come back to the home series and they have to make it happen for them to reach where we are today in England, the WTC final. It's been a situation where they have had to adjust in Indian conditions, and a lot of time it's favored the spinners. It's gotten over in two and three days, and in such games, you can't get the big hundreds that we are talking about, hence the poor averages," Karthik added.

Karthik also highlighted that India aren't the only side whose top-order batters haven't performed consistently in the recent past. He noted that barring Australia and England, all other teams are dealing with the same issue.

"Over a period of time, you will say that the top order has had a tough time, like anyone else in the world. I think England and Australia are slowly, but steadily starting to come good, but across the world, the averages haven't been great, and at that time, India has been very ordinary as well," Karthik continued.

The onus was on the Indian batters to bring their team back into the contest after Australia posted an impressive 468-run total after being asked to bat first in the WTC 2023 final at The Oval.

However, Rohit Sharma and Co. found themselves on the back foot after losing early wickets.

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"An error of judgment" - Dinesh Karthik on Cheteshwar Pujara's dismissal in India's WTC 2023 final vs Australia

India's Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara failed to get going in the WTC 2023 final against Australia, contributing just 14 runs before falling to Cameron Green.

The veteran batter misjudged the line of the ball and found his stumps rattled after shouldering arms to an outside off delivery that nipped back in. Dinesh Karthik reckons that it was Pujara's error of judgment that cost him his wicket.

"I think Pujara's case is definitely an error of judgment. He thought it would bounce a little more. But it didn't and it also came in a little bit," the veteran keeper-batter remarked.

Notably, Pujara wasn't the only batter to be dismissed in this fashion. Indian opener Shubman Gill also perished after leaving a ball from Scott Boland that came in sharply and crashed onto the stumps.

Karthik mentioned that Boland deserves credit for the wicket as he planned it by bowling the particular ball wider of the crease.

"With Shubman Gill, it was real good bowling. Scott Boland created this visual perception where the previous three balls he bowled it on the fourth stump, and he played it. The next one he went slightly wider, slightly away at the crease as well," Karthik elaborated.

"So, it gave you a feeling like it was outside the off stump and hence he left the ball. It came in a little more, but the interesting part is that it crashed into the middle and off stump. When you leave a ball and it hits your off stump, you can still think it was an error of judgment, but this one crashed middle and off," he added.

Gill was in supreme form in the recently concluded season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023), taking home the Orange Cap after scoring 890 runs across 17 innings.

However, the Gujarat Titans batter failed to translate the form into red-ball cricket, managing just 13 runs in the first essay of the WTC 2023 final.