Dinesh Karthik lauds Tom Latham, Ross Taylor; backs Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal

Mumbai: India’s Dinesh Karthik praised centurion Tom Latham and Ross Taylor who helped  New Zealand beat India by 6 wickets in the first ODI played at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. With this win New Zealand lead three match series1-0. Karthik was drafted into the middle order where he scored 47-ball 37 and also took two catches.

“Credit to Tom Latham and Ross Taylor. They batted really well. They made use of the conditions, played some good shots and used the sweep to good effect. It was a fantastic partnership” he said.

Karthik added that 280 for 8 was a very good score on a sticky pitch.  “The wicket is very sticky. It was not very easy to drive. There were a lot of balls going uppish in the air. It was very hard to drive. It was not coming onto the bat really well. It was two different wickets, to be honest. It was not very easy to score runs, you see.

"It was much better to bat in the second innings and credit to them, they made good use of it. When we were batting, at one stage, we thought even 250 is probably a great score on this wicket in a way it was sticky and probably turning a bit. Then, we batted really well towards the end. Virat played some fantastic shots and Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) and we ended up getting 280 which we thought was a very very good score, to be very honest.

The wicket-keeper batsman said that he should have batted longer during his stay at the crease “Again having said that a player like me should try and bat a little longer. That’s something, I am disappointed with. I could have batted a little more, we could have ended getting 15-20 runs more towards the end may be. I got out at a critical time. So, I am pretty disappointed with that aspect. But it was a decent start. It was a good to have a partnership with Virat (Kohli)” he said.

While Team India has struggled with number 4 slot,The 32-year-old  from Tamil Nadu said that in the current stage he can contribute with the bat from whichever position he will be given.

“At this point of time, I don’t want to say I am comfortable with number 4 or 5. From where I come, whatever opportunities given to me by the coach and the captain, I am going to be honest and say I am gonna play no matter where it is. I am at that stage where I feel that I can contribute wherever I bat” he added. 

“Today, I thought I batted very decently but it was key to me to carry on. That’s a part I am upset about. If I keep concentrating on the things I should be doing rather than what will happen if I bat at four or should I be batting at four. I feel I should be taking the energy away from that and focus more on how I am going to bat”.

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal failed to make impact in the 1^st ODI, Kuldeep conceded 64 runs in 10 overs and picked up 1 wicket of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamnson, while Chahal failed to pick up wicket and conceded 51 runs in his 10 overs

He said “One game here and there does not make you a bad bowler. These are the kind of games that make you mentally tougher as a bowler and that’s what they would like to look at it and yes, this is a great learning curve for them.  To be honest with you, the team management back them really a lot. They believe in themselves. They are two young guys and produced some fantastic performances in the last series (against Australia). Their confidence is sky high”.

“I think, these are the kind of games that are going to help them to stand up to pressure and learn how to handle pressure when the wicket is probably not so much helping them. They are only going to be learning, they are very young. They bowl really well till the last over. I don’t see them backing out at all; I see them going harder every single game”.