In the thrilling encounter between India and Australia at the Oval during the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik expressed admiration for Australia's fast bowler Scott Boland. Karthik specifically lauded Boland for his excellent setup of Indian batsman Shubman Gill, resulting in his dismissal.
Gill, who had shown great promise in the past, fell for just 13 runs as he misjudged a delivery from Scott Boland and was clean bowled while shouldering arms. Karthik, acknowledging the quality of Boland's delivery, described it as a "really good ball." According to Karthik, Boland cleverly set up Gill by bowling around the fourth stump, creating the perception that it was a ball to leave alone. However, the ball subtly moved back in and took Gill's off and middle stump.
Cheteshwar Pujara suffered a similar fate, misjudging a delivery from Cameron Green and losing his stumps after scoring 14 runs. Karthik, however, attributed Pujara's dismissal to a misunderstanding of the line of the delivery rather than a well-planned setup like Gill's.
The match started with India losing their captain Rohit Sharma early, dismissed lbw by Australia's Pat Cummins for 15 runs. Scott Boland quickly followed up with the dismissal of Shubman Gill, who failed to offer a shot and saw his off-stump uprooted. With India struggling at 30 for 3, Cheteshwar Pujara's ability to bat for long periods was crucial for his team. But unfortunately, he too fell to a similar dismissal, failing to offer a shot to a delivery from Cameron Green that disturbed his off-stump.
India's talismanic captain Virat Kohli, who had looked in good touch, was undone by a delivery that had extra bounce. Kohli could only manage to fend off Mitchell Starc's steeply rising delivery to Steve Smith at second slip, ending his innings at 14.
Dinesh Karthik emphasized the importance of Ajinkya Rahane's contribution if India wanted to stage a comeback on day three of the match. Rahane received a lucky break on 17 when he was initially given out lbw, but the decision was overturned upon reviewing the replays due to Cummins overstepping. In a setback for India towards the end of the day, Ravindra Jadeja played a counter-attacking innings of 48 before edging Nathan Lyon's delivery to Steve Smith in the slips.
At the conclusion of day two, India found themselves at 151-5, trailing Australia by a substantial 318 runs in their first innings. Despite the promising partnership between Rahane and Jadeja, Jadeja's dismissal late in the day dealt a blow to India's chances of staying competitive in the match.
With Australia having posted a commanding total of 459 in their first innings, India faces an uphill battle to make a comeback. Karthik acknowledged that the team was in a challenging position and stressed the importance of Rahane's resilience in the remaining days of the match. India will need a remarkable display of mental strength and skill to bridge the gap and challenge Australia's dominance in the game.