'India can't play Bazball style of cricket because...': Karthik reacts to KL Rahul's 'we have to be aggressive' remark
Dinesh Karthik spoke in detail about KL Rahul's ‘we have to be aggressive’ remark following Day 1 of the first Test between India and Bangladesh in Chattogram.
Team India ended Day 1 of the first Test against Bangladesh on 278/6, with Cheteshwar Pujara (90) and Shreyas Iyer (82*) playing key roles so far. The side had endured a tough start after KL Rahul had opted to bat in Chattogram, losing three quick wickets inside 20 overs. However, Pujara, alongside Rishabh Pant (46), stabilised the Indian innings before Shreyas Iyer eventually steered India to a decent position at the end of Day 1.
Ahead of the first Test between the two sides, India skipper KL Rahul – who is filling for an injured Rohit Sharma – had said that the side will be adopting an aggressive approach in the series. Rahul made the remark in reference to the qualification for the World Test Championship final.
“There is a Test championship (final) qualification so we will also have to be aggressive. We know where we stand and what we need to do to qualify for the final,” Rahul had said during a media conference after the unveiling of the trophy.
However, India had a tough opening session as the side was left reeling at 48/3 on Day 1, with Rahul (22), Shubman Gill (20), and Virat Kohli (1) falling cheaply. Rishabh Pant did play a counter-attacking knock of 46 off 45 deliveries, but India eventually required a gritty stay from Pujara and Iyer to take them to a relatively stronger position at the end of the day.
India's star wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik spoke about India's approach in detail following the game, and stated that the side cannot play the ‘Bazball’ style yet. The veteran keeper stated that the surfaced used in Chattogram is slow and that it becomes difficult to score at 4+ rpo on such wickets.
“For me, as I said, it is very evident that these are kind of wickets that sometimes end up not producing a result. As the Test match carries on, the wear and tear makes it slow. If the quality of the batsmanship is not great, you will end up seeing batsmen make mistakes. If your temperament is strong, you won't need a great technique to stay at the wicket,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“For starters, India cannot play the Bazball kind of cricket because right now, it's not a part of our DNA to do something like that. For KL Rahul to come out and say that they will play aggressive cricket basically means that they want to make a match out of it and get a result, knowing that the WTC final is around the corner and these two games become critical. They want to press the accelerator and push the scoring rate. They couldn't do it today because the wicket is slow, and you have to bring a different tempo altogether and that will require a few players who bat that way,” Karthik further said.
