Dinesh Karthik blames dropped catches for their disastrous defeat against Windies

Following India’s 9-wicket loss against West Indies in the lone T20I, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik rued the dropped catches that proved decisive in his team’s defeat. Karthik even went on to acknowledge a chance that he himself missed. Batting first, India posted 190 on the scoreboard but opener Evin Lewis slammed an unbeaten 125 off 62 balls to take West Indies home in just 18.3 overs.

In the sixth over of the Windies inning, Lewis went for a lofted straight drive off Bhuvneshwar Kumar but a mix-up between Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami saw the opportunity go waste. Four balls later, Lewis gave another chance when he heaved at a Kuldeep Yadav delivery but got a reprieve when an onrushing Karthik, at long-off, couldn’t get into the position to grab it safely.

Missed chances cost India the match

Speaking about his spilled opportunity, Karthik said, “I am pretty confident of taking high catches in fielding. It is just that I came running in and the breeze took it away slightly more than I thought and from the corner of my eyes I saw Virat running in as well.

He further added, “I didn’t want to bump into him and that took a fraction of a second for me which made me run more than I should and that kind of didn’t get me in a good position and that’s is the reason I dropped the catch.”

The Indian team will next face an away trial against Sri Lanka. They will play three Tests, five one-day internationals and one T20I with the first Test scheduled to start on July 26 at the Galle International Stadium. The first ODI will begin on August 20. Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya also got a call up from the selectors to feature in the Test squad for the upcoming tour. Abhinav Mukund was retained as the reserve opener. Kuldeep Yadav also maintained his place in the squad as the third spinner with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.