Analysis of Dinesh Karthik's performance in deciding ODI between England and India as opportunity goes begging for batsman

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  • Dinesh Karthik failed to make the most of his chance on Monday.

    Dinesh Karthik was back in India’s ODI colours for the first time since December last year with the Tamil Nadu man chosen in the playing XI for the decider of the three-match series against England at Headingley.

    Replacing KL Rahul in the line-up, the pressure was on Karthik to deliver the goods as he looked to stake a more permanent claim in India’s limited-overs setup.

    In the end, the right-hander’s comeback innings for India was cut short at 22 as the visitors struggled to post 256-8 in their 50 overs after being put into bat first by England skipper Eoin Morgan.

    Here, we take a closer look at how Karthik fared at Headingley.

    STATISTICS

    RUNS SCORED: 21

    BALLS FACED: 22

    BOUNDARIES: 3

    SIXES: 0

    STRIKE-RATE: 95.45

    30-SECOND REPORT

    Karthik arrived at the crease in the 18th over of the innings after Shikhar Dhawan was run-out and looked to be in supreme touch from the very get go.

    He was comfortable against both spinners and pacer alike and found boundaries at will with some classic strokes. The 33-year-old was beginning to form a threatening partnership with skipper Virat Kohli before he was undone by Adil Rashid.

    Karthik could only inside-edge the ball on to his stumps.

    Karthik could only inside-edge the ball on to his stumps.

    GOT RIGHT

    There was hardly anything to fault Karthik for on Tuesday with the batsman giving India exactly what they would have wanted from their number four. He took no time in settling himself at the crease as he crashed a boundary in his very second delivery with a deft late-cut.

    Some more fluent strokes followed as Karthik did not all the bowlers to get on top of him and kept the scoring-rate ticking along nicely.

    GOT WRONG

    Such was the nature of Karthik’s innings at Headingley that his dismissal looked very much against the run of play. He was looking well set for a big score as he raced away to a run-a-ball 21 before he dragged a Rashid delivery on to his stumps while attempting to drive the England spinner through the off-side.

    The dismissal was frustrating in the sense for Karthik due to the fact that he had attempted a similar stroke against Rashid at the start of his innings but the inside-edge rolled on to his pads and not the stumps. He failed to pay heed to that threat and there was no luck for him the second time he attempted the same stroke.

    A big opportunity missed for the 33-year-old.

    A big opportunity missed for the 33-year-old.

    VERDICT – 6/10

    With India’s middle-order conundrum still showing no signs of any resolution, Tuesday’s knock was going to be crucial for Karthik’s chances of staking his claim for a berth in the squad for the World Cup in a year’s time. With the in-form KL Rahul being dropped to make way for him, Karthik absolutely needed to nail his innings and to be fair to him, he did look completely unflustered before his dismissal.

    However, chances have been few and far in between for the Kolkata Knight Riders skipper and his failure to score big in the decider could set him back further in the pecking order. A missed opportunity for Karthik at Headingley unfortunately.

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