2019 World Cup Semi Final Loss Still Hurts: Dinesh Karthik

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has said that the 2019 World Cup semi-final loss still hurts him to the core. Team India lost the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 against New Zealand and were eliminated in the second consecutive world cup semi-final.

A lot of fans and former cricketers were outraged in the manner in which the team was handled. Going into the coveted tournament, the biggest issue for the team was to find a perfect number four. Team India failed to do that and kept trying options in the middle of the world cup. Consequently, their top order was exposed in the semi-final by the Kiwi bowlers and India had no answers in the middle-order.

Dinesh Karthik, who was suddenly promoted at number 5 in the semi-final, has now stated that the loss still hurts him a lot.

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Dinesh Karthik Opens Up 2019 World Cup Semi-Final Loss

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Dinesh Karthik said, ” I think we had such a strong world cup, we genuinely believed that we will go all the way, we had no doubts. It felt like we had no chinks in the armour as well because the openers were firing, Virat was in form, it was going beautifully. Though in the last 2-3 years, the only time any team has challenged us is when they have got three or four wickets upfront,”

“It so happened in the semi-final and it put the brakes on us. So be it, obviously losing the semi-final still hurts because we were a well-prepared team. In the build-up to the world cup, as a team led by Virat Kohli and the players that represented him, we had done something amazing,” Karthik added.

“We beat South Africa 4-1. We went to Australia and beat them. We went to New Zealand and beat them. What more could you ask for! In the lead up to the tournament, huge credit to Virat Kohli and everybody in that team, I think we achieved some special things in the lead up to the tournament and in the tournament we were playing some special cricket. All the hopes were on us and obviously it feels hard to go out of the tournament like that, but that’s how it is. Sometimes it’s a bitter pill to swallow,” Dinesh Karthik further added.

Felt A Little Weird Playing The Semi-Final For 2 Days: Dinesh Karthik

The play had to be stopped after 46.1 overs in the first innings when New Zealand had reached 211 for 5 on Day 1 due to torrential rain. New Zealand resumed on the reserve day and could manage 239 runs in their 50 overs. India were eventually restricted to 221 runs on Day 2. However, a lot of players had criticized the two-day system, and now Dinesh Karthik has also opined on the same.

“I don’t know how many semi-finals of the world cup have happened over 2 days. So it was a little weird in that sense. You bowl 50 overs, you go back and you come back next day and play, its a little weird. The game was weird,” Karthik added.

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