Despite a spirited comeback from the Indian side on Day 3, Dinesh Karthik feels they have very little chance of winning the World Test Championship final against Australia. India started off Day 4 on the perfect note with Umesh Yadav finding the outside edge of Marnus Labuschagne's bat in his second over but Cameron Green and Alex Carey handled the pressure well to take Australia's lead well past the 300-run mark. Karthik believes chasing anything in excess of 350 in the fourth innings on this Oval track will be at least a 100 more than what can be considered gettable.
"I don't think India have a chance to win this WTC. I know it's a sad message for all the fans. I have not lost hope but I genuinely feel with the way the pitch is playing, you could e batting on 60 or 70 and you could get a ball that would be able to do nothing about," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
The veteran wicketkeeper-batter said India were chasing the game because of what happened on Day 1. Steve Smith and Travis Head took Australia past 300 with the loss of three wickets which laid the foundation of their big first innings total of 469. And even though Shardul Thakur and Ajinkya Rahane's super rearguard 109-run partnership for the seventh wicket kept India in the game, their 296-run total was still 177-run short of Australia.
‘India paying the price because of what happened on Day 1’: Karthik on WTC final
"This is not because of what has happened on Day 2 and Day 3 but because of what happened on the first day, that has come back to haunt us. 469 on this pitch is 200 runs too many, let's be honest. India batted well to get where they are. You saw the Australians are 123/4 at the end of the day. Anything can happen from here but 296 ahead already and even if they have their worst day and get bowled out with a lead of 350 that's about 100 runs more than what could possibly be scored on this pitch," Karthik added.
{{/usCountry}}"This is not because of what has happened on Day 2 and Day 3 but because of what happened on the first day, that has come back to haunt us. 469 on this pitch is 200 runs too many, let's be honest. India batted well to get where they are. You saw the Australians are 123/4 at the end of the day. Anything can happen from here but 296 ahead already and even if they have their worst day and get bowled out with a lead of 350 that's about 100 runs more than what could possibly be scored on this pitch," Karthik added.
{{/usCountry}}He also highlighted the up-and-down nature of The Oval pitch which has got batters like Labuschagne, Rahane and Shardul in trouble.
"The ball is keeping low, so the chance of getting LBW and bowled becomes even more," he said.