Indian middle-order batsman, Dinesh Karthik courted controversy in the T20I series-decider against New Zealand when he denied an easy single to all-rounder, Krunal Pandya on the third ball of the final over of India’s chase of 213 runs.
The Men in Blue lost the Hamilton T20I by four runs. New Zealand had scored 212 runs batting first on the back of a blistering fifty by the Kiwi opener, Colin Munro.
Take a look at how Twitter reacted to Dinesh Karthik’s bizarre decision:
Dinesh Karthik should not play for India after this. That is the most horrible thing I’ve seen in a while.
— ADITYA (@StarkAditya) 10 February 2019
Not taking that run was the stupidest thing to do in the cricket field …ughhh Dinesh Karthik #INDvsNZ
— Suchita (@Suchita_14) 10 February 2019
That decision to NOT run a single by Dinesh Karthik boiled my blood. There is a reason he has not been regular in the team, fit for domestic cricket only or against Bangladesh. Poor understanding of match situation. He is not even close to Dhoni #INDvNZ
— The Bong Mind ? (@BongMindz) 10 February 2019
#NZvIND #3rdT20I
Whole nation to Dinesh Karthik after that refusal to Krunal Pandya – pic.twitter.com/J8ThfypEAT— Shubham Salunke (@shubhamksalunke) 10 February 2019
Main reason for loss I think Karthik must given strike to krunal…but Karthik want to became a hero….Krunal deserve to be finish the game and became hero #ICC #Dhoni #INDvsNZ
— Sagar Baravkar (@sagarbaravkar1) 10 February 2019
Mr. Dinesh Karthik you are not MS DHONI to deny a single and then finish with sixes. You might have done it once but you can’t do it every time like MS does… #INDvsNZt20
— Bastele Jhakday (@bastelej) 10 February 2019
The Men in Blue were in the chase till the last ball of the game. Vijay Shankar top-scored with 43 runs off 28 balls while the likes of Dinesh Karthik (33 off 16 balls), Rishabh Pant (28 off 12 balls), Krunal Pandya (26 off 13 balls), and Hardik Pandya (21 off 11 balls) played excellent cameos. Rohit Sharma was a big disappointment as he batted sluggishly to score 38 off 32 deliveries.