Top 5 selfish knocks in Indian cricket history

Indian cricket has seen many great batsmen come and go. While most of their innings are celebrated till date, some of them remain to be a point of debate, years after they were played. Some might regard them to be an off day for the players in focus, or some might call it to be an act that was a result of the player doing what the situation demanded. But, the fact remains that the players did go out of their characters to forge innings that made them look self-centred on that particular day.

While some of the innings may have resulted in the completion of a milestone or a victory for the Indian team, but those happenings are overshadowed by those particular innings, which are still talked about in the cricketing circles.

So, here’s a look at five such innings which earned a few individuals the badge of being selfish:

1. Dinesh Karthik (32 off 31 balls vs Sri Lanka, 2009)

An inning that might look good when on the scorecard, but was the cause of something that angered the cricket fans really badly. On the 21^st of December in 2009, Dinesh Karthik hit a four and won India match, but denied Sachin Tendulkar a century, which was not liked by the ‘little master’s’ fans at all.

Chasing a total of 240 runs set by the Lankans, led by Upul Tharanga’s 73 off 81 deliveries, India looked in control right from the start. All thanks to the opening combination of Virender Sehwag and Sachin. They got India to 55 runs in the 6^th over itself, before Sehwag departed after scoring 44 runs, leaving behind a foundation for a comfortable chase.

Sachin was joined by Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, both of whom got out after scoring a modest 32 and 23 respectively. Then came on to the field, Dinesh Karthik, who was about to do something that would get his name etched in the history books as a selfish player, be it only for that one match.

Karthik joined Sachin when India required 75 runs, with 17 overs to go and Sachin’s ton was on the cards. They both got India close to the win by the 42^nd over. And, then it happened. India required seven at the start of the 43^rd over which was to be bowled by Lasith Malinga.

Having hit a four at the start of the over, Sachin took a single and gave the strike to Karthik. And, the inexperienced man did what he shouldn’t have done. India required just 3 runs to win the match and everyone wanted Sachin who was on 96 to score a ton. But, Karthik hit a four and got India to a win, but received a boatload of flak for having denied Sachin a well-deserved century.