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There was a faint snick: Karthik

LONDON: Dinesh Karthik, whose 91 on Thursday impressed many former cricketers here at The Oval, said India won an important toss in the context of the series.

“This was a good toss to win, definitely on a flat wicket like this, it was good thing for us and we are very happy about that,” said Karthik. “Once you get set on these kinds of tracks, you can play your strokes if you’re confident.”

The 22-year-old said he made a small adjustment to his stance against the lefty swing of Ryan Sidebottom. “I opened up my stance a little to try and get my left shoulder to face the bowler,” he said. “Earlier, I was getting my leg to far across.”

It’s this ability to adapt that has served Karthik well in his transformation from wicketkeeper to opener.

“I started off very well, I’m happy about the way I consolidated,” he said of his innings. “But, I was definitely disappointed the way I got out. It was at the wrong time.”

The nick wasn’t evident in the replays. Did he get a touch? “Yes, there was a faint snick. There is no doubt about that.”

Karthik, characteristically, refused to take the bait when asked about the leg-before decision handed out to Sourav Ganguly.

“You saw it, I saw it, but, I don’t want to comment.”

Reverse swing

The abrasive surface and the efforts of the English team in maintaining the shine on one side of the ball combined to produce more swing late on day one than was evident in the first session.

Curiously, it wasn’t consistent reverse swing: it was a mix.

“Yes, the ball started swinging very well,” said Karthik. “After the 45th over the ball was swinging a bit, and Rahul (Dravid) got a ball that swung late, it definitely did a bit more.”

One of Karthik’s idols, Graham Thorpe, said he enjoyed the opener’s innings.

“At times he reminds me of Michael Slater,” said Thorpe, the former England left-hander.

“Not a cat on a hot tin roof but he has a lot of nervous energy.”

Thorpe commended Karthik’s adapting to the pitch: “He handled the bounce of the pitch very well. “(He is) technically very sound and it is important for India because they have to make sure their opening pair is settled in the next five years. — Special Correspondent

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