'Will keep India in good stead when they travel abroad': Dinesh Karthik identifies IND star as a 'good weapon' in Tests

Dinesh Karthik has said that the player will be a good option for India in the upcoming series against Australia at home as well.

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav's four-wicket haul continued India's dominance in their first Test against Bangladesh. The hosts found themselves on 133/8 at the end of Day 2 in reply to India's score of 404, with Kuldeep on 4/33. Kuldeep had struck with just his second ball of the match, dismissing Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan for just three runs.

Karthik said that the player is also going to be a potent weapon for India in their upcoming series against Australia. (Lal Singh)

Veteran India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik said that the wicket of Shakib was a key moment for him in Kuldeep's performance for the day. “The key moment for me was the second ball he bowled to Shakib Al Hasan, somebody who is a very good player of spin. He knows how to tackle a spinner. Stepped out but the ball just dipped a little bit in front and got enough turn for him to play the wrong shot. That was really good bowling. That ball would have given Kuldeep a lot of confidence and that was the starting of his spell,” said Karthik on Cricbuzz.

“From there on you could see Kuldeep in full flow. He troubles batters. You can see from the batters who came after that, they really struggled to play him. That was really heartening. It will keep India in good stead even when they travel abroad but more so for the forthcoming series against Australia. He will become a good weapon to have,” he said.

Kuldeep also contributed with the bat this time. He put up 87 runs off 200 balls for the eighth wicket, a stand that was crucial to India scoring over 400 runs. Kuldeep fell on 40 off 114 balls to Taijul Islam.

“When he was younger, he was someone who used to bat in the top order for Uttar Pradesh. He fancies himself as a batter. What he lacks is power which is why in white-ball cricket he is not as effective. But when it comes to red-ball cricket, he gets behind the line of the ball and has a good technique. Being a spinner you are generally aware of how to play spin well and you could see that. His use of sweep and reverse-sweep was very good. He was proactive and that actually put the bowlers off. So it was a very good session of batting from India where the lower order contributed in a positive way. We needed that, there is a massive difference between being all out for 290 and reaching 404," said Karthik.