"India can completely crush England" - Dinesh Karthik

Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik believes that India has a chance to secure victory in the second Test against England. Dinesh Karthik expressed that India can dominate by building a substantial lead through a strong batting performance on Day 3.

The Rohit Sharma-led team is currently facing England at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The home side took a 143-run lead in the first innings by dismissing the Ben Stokes-led team for 253 on the second day of the match.

India Has The Opportunity To Completely Crush England – Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik mentioned that the Indian team has the potential to thoroughly dominate England by batting the whole day. Karthik emphasized that the home side should target reaching around 300 runs by the end of the day’s play on Sunday.

“India has the opportunity once again in this Test match to completely crush England with their batting effort. If they bat the whole day, they are going to score at least 275 to 300, which means there will be 445 plus runs ahead, which is great,” Karthik said.

The hosts resumed the third day with 28 runs on the board and both Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the crease. The visitors dismissed both Indian openers in the first session, restricting India to 30/2. English pacer James Anderson claimed both wickets.

Batting In The Third Inning Will Come A Little Bit Easier – Dinesh Karthik

Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer came under fire following a string of low scores. Both middle-order batters retained their places despite failing to score in the first Test. If Virat Kohli and KL Rahul return to the team for the next test, they might be dropped from the playing XI.

Dinesh Karthik expected that Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer would find batting more comfortable on the third day, expressing that the conditions allow them to be more aggressive in their approach.

“I also feel that batting in the third inning will come a little bit easier for the likes of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. They will bat at a higher strike rate than they did in the first inning. The fear of playing loose shots is a lot less in this innings because the ball is turning and keeping low. It is acceptable for them to play more shots, and that is what they will do.”

Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer steadied the Indian innings after the two quick wickets in the first session. The duo added an 81-run partnership for the third wicket before Shreyas was dismissed. Ben Stokes took a sensational catch to dismiss Iyer for 29 runs.

The 24-year-old batter scored his maiden half-century at the No. 3 position in red-ball cricket for India. The right-handed batter remained unbeaten, scoring 60 runs off 78 balls, including 8 fours and a six. The team ended with a total of 130/4 before the lunch break on Day 3.

The Indian team extended their lead to 273 runs after the first session. The home team will be hoping to stretch their lead to over 450 runs to place them in a comfortable position in the ongoing red-ball match.

Also read: “Yashasvi Jaiswal is here..-” Harsha Bhogle, Dinesh Karthik lavish praise on India opener