“It was not a great delivery”: Dinesh Karthik says Rohit Sharma played badly to lose his wicket to Tim Southee on Day 1 of the second Test

Former India wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik said that Rohit Sharma played poorly to get dismissed on Tim Southee’s ball on Day 1 of the second Test in Pune. Rohit failed to open his account and extended his poor track record against Southee in international cricket.

After the hosts dismissed New Zealand for 259 in 79.1 overs, they were hoping for a good start with the bat. However, Rohit departed for a nine-ball duck to leave India National Cricket Team in trouble. The 37-year-old was squared up by a good-length delivery that moved away after pitching.

During a discussion on Cricbuzz, Karthik said Rohit was impacted by Tim Southee’s success against him, which made the ball look great.

“The ball swung a bit, and Southee has been impressive against Rohit. He has dismissed the Indian captain 14 times in international cricket. That was probably playing on Rohit’s mind. He is aware that he doesn’t like to face the New Zealand pacer. He came out defensive.

“The was a standard ball for Southee. It was not a great delivery. Rohit got out on a ball, which he should have been playing easily. He played badly and made the ball look good on screen. He didn’t defend the ball well,” Dinesh Karthik said.

India were 16/1 at stumps, with Shubman Gill (10) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (6) at the crease.