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Dinesh Karthik believes that Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has done a good job so far in the ongoing second Test against West Indies at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.
Assessing the Men in Blue's bowling performance on Day 3, Karthik stated that Sharma rotated the bowlers well, giving pacers enough overs in between. He suggested that the side found it challenging to pick up wickets due to the overly defensive approach from West Indies batters.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik explained:
"I have played a lot of Ranji matches where we end up playing on really dead pitches. I think the one in Trinidad is not a dead pitch. There is something happening from the rough. But for the fast bowlers, there is not too much in it.
"I thought Rohit handled his fast bowlers well, giving them spells, bringing them back, and also bowling the spinners quite a bit.
"When reverse was in play, he made use of all the bowlers. (Mohammed) Siraj bowled beautifully. So there is not too much to dig into for the sake of it if they could have done anything different. If even a mediocre batting unit decides that they just want to defend, it is going to be really hard."
Predicting the result of the Test, Karthik commented that either the match will end in a draw, or India would secure a victory. He elaborated:
"This Test match is only going two ways. It's either India winning, which is a very, very high possibility, or the draw, which is what looks like West Indies are playing for. For India to win, all they need to be doing is making sure they get the next five wickets.
"If that happens even in 40 to 45 overs, they will still have 45 overs to bat, and I am pretty sure that they will get somewhere between 200 to 220."
Notably, West Indies finished at 229/5 at stumps on Day 3. They still trail India by 209 runs.
"Two key batters for me will be Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal" - Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik further stated that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill could prove to be India's trump card in their second innings. He opined that the two youngsters are likely to deliver quick-fire knocks, helping the side set an impressive target.
The veteran keeper-batter also backed Gill to score big, despite the batter's underwhelming performances in the previous two innings. On this, Karthik said:
"Two key batters for me will be Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Yashasvi became he is somebody who, when he plays an attacking brand of cricket, I think he bats his best. Yes, we have Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but my eye is going to be on Shubman Gill.
"Yes, he hasn't got runs on the store, he'll be looking to do that, and when you tell a batter of that calibre to go ahead and play a few shots, it's great. I think he will go out, release himself and play a few lovely shots."
It is worth mentioning that with 228 runs from two innings, Jaiswal is currently the leading run-getter in the series.
