Veteran Team India batter Dinesh Karthik made a shocking claim about ex-skipper Virat Kohli and current captain Rohit Sharma, declaring the two superstars hate facing pacer Mohammed Shami in the nets.
Calling Mohammed Shami the toughest bowler he has faced in any form of cricket, Dinesh Karthik then revealed his conversation with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Both men told him they never liked playing Mohammed Shami in practice because he's a nasty bowler who creates endless problems for them.
“If I have to use one word for Shami it will be ‘Torture Shami'. Because in my whole career, he is the toughest bowler I have faced in the nets, he has got me out a couple of times as well in the match. But he has been nasty to play in the nets. I thought I was the only one so then I asked Kohli, Rohit, and they are all legends of the game and they all said they hate playing Shami,” Dinesh Karthik told Cricbuzz.
“What makes him so special is – all of his strength come into play in net session, his upright seam position, his natural length, that nasty length of 6-8 metre mark, where the two major mode of dismissals are caught behind or caught at slip. And you can see why he has been unlucky over a period of time as well because that length says that he gets the batsman beaten numerous times but never gets that wicket. He has travelled overseas in series where he constantly ended up being the bad bowler because he is the bowler got gets most deliveries beaten, but never the amount of wickets to show for,” he explained.
“For a fast bowler, the revs are close to 1000 rpm when the ball is released, but for Shami it is close to 1500-1600. That is what makes him special. When you have that amount of backs-spin, when there is little bit of the wicket, he is literally unplayable,” Dinesh Karthik added.
Speaking about Rohit Sharma, the India captain scripted a unique world record in the just concluded first Test against Australia in Vidarbha.
With his majestic knock of 120 off 212 deliveries against the Pat Cummins-led side at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Rohit Sharma became the first player in international cricket to score a century in all forms of the game, both as a batter and a captain.
Additionally, Rohit Sharma became the first Indian skipper to score hundreds across formats.
Rohit Sharma’s masterclass on a turning track came on a day when India’s big names, including the maestro Virat Kohli and Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara, fell cheaply, managing only scores of 12 and 7, respectively.
His stunning knock in Nagpur also featured 15 fours and two sixes.
It was Rohit Sharma’s ninth hundred in Test matches and his eighth at home. Besides, it was his first Test century as captain of the Indian cricket team after he became in charge of the side after Virat Kohli stepped down from the leadership role last year.
With his heroics in the City of Oranges, Rohit Sharma became a member of a select band of captains who have scored centuries in all three forms of the sport.
Before Rohit Sharma, current Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, and Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan were the only captains to reach the milestone in T20Is, ODIs, and Tests.
Rohit Sharma’s record-breaking hundred left many ex-cricketers in awe, with former national coach Ravi Shastri leading the accolades for the Team India captain.
“It’s a tribute to his footwork, his temperament and skill. He has played with his wrists, played late and he is never coming hard at the ball. He has played with soft hands. A great example of how to bat on this pitch. Because of the time he has, he can play both spin and pace with good effect. And when he wants to hit, he can go big,” Ravi Shastri told Star Sports.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli's poor display with the bat continued in Tests in the opening match against Australia.
The former India skipper fell to debutant Australian spinner Todd Murphy in the Rohit Sharma-led side’s only innings at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium this weekend.
In the last six months, Virat Kohli has succeeded in changing his fortunes in white-ball cricket, in T20Is and ODIs. While the Delhi-born cricketer ended last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia as the tournament’s leading run-scorer and recently added three ODI centuries to his kitty, his red-ball form has kept the fans and former cricketers worried.
Since 2020, Virat Kohli has played 21 Tests, and in 37 knocks in those matches, he has only made 929 runs at a mediocre average of 25.80.
His last hundred in the five-day format came against Bangladesh in Kolkata in 2019.
His last eleven Test knocks have been pathetic Speaking about his scores on the past 11 occasions read as 12 against Australia in the Nagpur Test, 1 & 24 versus Bangladesh in the second Test, 19* & 1 against Bangladesh in the first Test, 20 & 11 versus England, 13 & 23 vs. Sri Lanka in the second Test, 45 against Sri Lanka in the first Test and 29 versus South Africa in the second essay of the third Test.
Continuing with his poor performances in the whites, Virat Kohli lost his wicket for 12 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Friday. Debutant spinner Todd Murphy dismissed him in the contest, again exposing his frailties against spin.
To be fair to Virat Kohli, he looked in good nick during his short stay at the crease, hitting a couple of beautiful drives. But bad luck eventually led to his departure in the 53rd over of the Indian innings.
Interestingly, Virat Kohli lost his wicket on the first ball after Lunch after the Delhi-born cricketer tried to flick the Australian off-spinner but got a thin edge that went straight into the hands of wicketkeeper Alex Carey behind the wickets.
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