Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik has put his weight behind the Indian bowlers after the visitors could not defend the target of 192 runs in the fifth T20I against New Zealand at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on Sunday.
Barring Nitish Kumar Reddy, all the Indian bowlers conceded their runs at an economy rate of more than 10. Kartik said bowlers are mostly made the easiest target after a loss.
Hamilton has small boundaries, and the New Zealand batters were able to chase down the target with 12 balls to spare. Tim Seifert scored a match-winning knock of 93 runs off 50 balls, whereas Glenn Phillips continued his rich form as he scored 65 runs off 38 balls.
Seifert also had the rub of the green on his side as he was dropped early in the innings by Naman Dhir.
“That’s the easiest pace to pick, right? Bowlers. If nothing works well, have a go at the bowlers. How many runs did we get? It is just a soft target, man. At the end of the day, India have never had the ideal bowling combination. Sometimes it is overload; sometimes it is injuries. In a format like this, that is the easiest place to pick holes, because if a batter does not score runs, it is fine, but if a bowler goes for runs, we start dissecting him even more. India have conceded over 200, a total of 11 times in 40 games this year, in this current scenario, I’ll take that,” Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz.
Kartik admitted catching has been India’s major issue in the last year.
“Catching has been a big issue. Now the scoreline reads 3-2, but the catching has been a massive issue over the last year and a bit. Whether it is travelling somewhere or at home, it has been a big problem. You want consistency in terms of selection, and in terms of bowling combination. If you don’t have your best bowlers at all times due to various reasons, it is not easy for the captain either,” he continued.
India will now take on New Zealand in a five-match ODI series.
