Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik has recently shared his views on the major positives for Team India from their tour of Sri Lanka, despite the ODI series loss.
This series marked India’s first ODI defeat to Sri Lanka in 27 years. While India won the T20I series, they struggled in the ODIs, tying the first match and losing the subsequent two.
Key players like Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shivam Dube, and Rishabh Pant failed to capitalize on their chances during the series. Their performance against spin was particularly concerning, revealing weaknesses in their technique. With only three matches remaining before the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, there are uncertainties about India’s potential batting lineup for the tournament.
Dinesh Karthik Highlights Positives For India
“The biggest positive is the fact that India played all-rounders and bravely attacked. So that is something I really like. No. 2 Riyan Parag, in his limited opportunities, is showing what he can do with the ball, which is again a small plus for us. Other than that, I think Rohit’s batting is itself. The way he starts in powerplay. He is making batting look too easy in the series. Batted beautifully. These were the positives for me from this series,” said Karthik.
Besides being impressed by Riyan Parag, Dinesh Karthik was happy that the management gave changes to India’s all-rounders in the series namely Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube.
The seasoned all-rounders in Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja were rested from this series. Parag’s performance with the ball was especially satisfying with Jadeja and Hardik rested. He picked up three wickets in his first ODI giving away 54 runs in nine overs.
The lower-order batting from him and Washington Sundar was also satisfying. Axar Patel also chipped in with 33 and 44 in the first and second ODI.
DK also responded to a query from an Indian fan who questioned India’s play against spin in the series. Karthik said that Indian batters prepared for the pacers but were caught off guard against the spinners.
India lost 27 wickets to spin in the series as the series highlighted that the batters were still unequipped to play good quality spin on turning pitches. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma after the series loss said in the post-match presentation that they will need to look into a few areas and need to improve on them ahead of the upcoming cricket season.
