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India and Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has slammed Tamil Nadu coach Sulakshan Kulkarni for his remark on TN's Ranji semi-final defeat against Mumbai. The R Sai Kishore-led side suffered a massive defeat with an innings and 70 runs in three days at the Bandra Kurla Complex Ground.
Kishore, after winning the toss, opted to bat first on a wicket which seemed to seem friendly. The Tamil Nadu captain instantly regretted his decision as his side were reduced to 42-5 before being bundled out for 146 in the first innings. However, Tamil Nadu came back into the contest as Mumbai was struggling at 107-6 but lower-order heroics by Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian.
This is so disappointing: Dinesh Karthik on Tamil Nadu coach
Tamil Nadu, in the second innings, once again struggled with bat and were all-out at 162 to suffer massive defeat. Reacting to this loss, Kulkarni expressed that Tamil Nadu lost the match after deciding to bat first on Day 1. Tamil Nadu star Dinesh Karthik wasn't happy with these comments and accused Kulkarni of throwing the 'team under the bus'.
Karthik tweeted, "This is soo WRONG. This is so disappointing from the coach ..instead of backing the captain who has brought the team to the semis after 7 yrs and thinking it's a start for good things to happen, the coach has absolutely thrown his captain and team under the bus."
We lost the match at 9 o'clock on day one: Sulakshan Kulkarni
Speaking about Sulakshan Kulkarni's comments, the Tamil Nadu coach said, "I always speak straightforward - we lost the match at 9 o'clock on day one. The moment I saw the wicket I exactly knew what we were going to get. Everything was set, we won the toss, as a coach, as a Mumbaikar, I know the conditions well. We should have bowled but the captain had some different instinct."
