India suffered their first loss of the 2022 T20 World Cup against South Africa in Perth on Sunday, October 31 in what was seen as a disappointing performance by the batting unit. And one former India star has pinpointed the contribution of Dinesh Karthik in this respect and believes that the veteran batter should take more accountability for his place in the team.
"When you looked at India's batting show tonight, I felt somewhere the trust that was shown on Dinesh Karthik... I think he should be sitting and thinking about it because, had he been there with Suryakumar Yadav, had they added those 10-15 runs more, it would have been a different ball game," Ojha said about Karthik.
He also likened Karthik's place in the team to that of David Miller, who guided the Proteas to victory on Sunday. "Dinesh Karthik, who was given a long rope and the trust was put on him, I think he should be thinking about it. He is an experienced player, you want your senior-most players to come and deliver. That's what David Miller did for his side," Ojha added.
The 36-year-old wanted India's middle order to take a look at the South African batting line-up, which took control of the match after India's pacers got the important wickets. "We were a few runs short. If you looked at the South African batting, they had a very solid middle-order, they have been getting those runs," Ojha opined.
Both the teams' bowlers dominated on the day, but it was the South African middle-order who won the match for India. They were led by a steady partnership between Aiden Markram and David Miller as the duo counter-attacked the Indian bowling in the final 10 overs and pulled off the victory.
"That's the difference because both the bowling units did their job. India should be pleased because the game went on till the last over and that's where it was decided. When you talk about batting, I felt very strongly that South African batters play to the situation and we did not play to the situation, apart from the middle-order," Ojha said about the difference between the two teams.
