"Boland set him up beautifully" - Dinesh Karthik on Shubman Gill's dismissal on day 2 of WTC final
Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik has spoken about the dismissals of Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara, both of who were cleaned up shouldering arms on day two of the WTC final.
After Australia piled up 469 in their first essay, India got off to a positive start, with openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill racing to 30 runs in six overs.
However, the Aussie skipper Pat Cummins struck a big blow, dismissing his opposite number lbw for 15. In the next over, Scott Boland cleaned up Shubman Gill for 13 with a delivery that moved back quite sharply.
Speaking to the ICC about Gill's dismissal, Karthik credited Boland for his well-disguised setup.
"Shubman's ball was a really good one," Karthik said. "I think he (Boland) set him up beautifully, bowling just around the fourth stump and then pitching this one slightly wider giving the visual perception that it's probably a good ball to leave but it came back enough to take his off and middle."
India's No. 3 Pujara fell in a similar fashion, misjudging a delivery from Cameron Green and having his stumps knocked over for 14. However, Karthik felt that, unlike Gill, Pujara's dismissal was the result of misjudging the line.
"Pujara was probably a case of him not judging the line as well as he could have," he said. "Slightly tentative, didn't push his front foot forward enough, you could see a part of his off stump and that was the end of him."
India were left reeling at 50-3 with Pujara's dismissal and sunk into further trouble when former skipper Virat Kohli was dismissed soon after, leaving them 71-4.
"It's going to take a lot for them mentally and skillfully to come back in this game" - Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik stressed that Ajinkya Rahane will be the key if Team India are to make a comeback on day three of the WTC final at The Oval.
At the close of day two, Rohit Sharma's men were on the brink at 151-5, still trailing Australia by a mammoth 318 runs in their first innings. Despite a valuable 71-run partnership between Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja, the latter's dismissal late in the day set India further back.
Speaking about India's prospects on day three, Karthik said:
"I think just the fact Ajinkya Rahane is still batting, they would hope that he keeps batting as long as possible, that's going to be very important for Team India. But in many ways it's going to be a Test match they are very much behind the eight-ball, it's going to take a lot for them mentally and skillfully to come back in this game. Australia are well ahead in this game. They made 459 and India are 150-5 so that's a big bridge right now."
As things stand, the 35-year-old Rahane is unbeaten on 29, with wicket-keeper KS Bharat giving him company on five. All five of the Australian bowlers picked up a wicket each, demonstrating far better control and execution compared to their counterparts.
Earlier in the day, Mohammed Siraj took 4/108 to help dismiss Australia for 469 after they appeared on course to go past 500.