Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik defended Rohit Sharma’s call to declare the innings when Ravindra Jadeja was on the verge of his maiden double hundred. Karthik feels that it’s always a team game, individual milestones are just secondary.
On Saturday, India declared their first innings at the score of 574/8 when Jadeja was batting on 175 and he already added 103 runs with Mohammed Shami (20*) but Rohit Sharma called them in. However, the Indian bowlers justified the call by taking 4 wickets before the close of the second day’s play.
Notable that Rahul Dravid, who is currently India’s head coach, once famously declared when Sachin Tendulkar was batting on 194 at Multan in 2004.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik said that these milestones are considered when the batter is just one or two shots away from the milestone, not when one needs 20-25 runs more. He further stated that team goals always take precedence.
“When a decision like that is taken on a team front, you always feel that it is fine unless you are on 195-196. When you are on 175, it’s a different one altogether. When you are on 195-196, then you think twice.
“Other than that, as a captain or coach, you are not thinking too much about individual glory. You are trying to think how much time do we have, how many wickets do we want to pick, and how much time do we want to give ourselves,” Dinesh Karthik said.
“He has taken off phenomenally since the 2019 World Cup”- Dinesh Karthik
Karthik further pointed out that Jadeja had always the batter’s mindset as he used to bat higher up in the order for Saurashtra in Ranji Trophy. He said that Jadeja’s innings in the semifinal of World Cup 2019 was the turning point of his batting turnaround.
“Not many people realize that Jadeja’s credentials as a batter are phenomenal in Ranji Trophy. I cannot think of anybody who has scored three triple hundreds. When I see Jadeja bat, when I see what he has achieved today, it doesn’t come as a surprise at all. He has taken off phenomenally since the 2019 World Cup.
“Towards the end, he was unstoppable at that World Cup and since then, he has not looked back. He has been a different player,” he added.