JOIN USCoach J Arun Kumar wore a dejected look as his batsmen let him down once again.
In reply to Odisha’s first innings total of 202 all out, Karnataka were bowled out for 213 in their first innings despite carrying a potent bunch of batsmen.
Karnataka’s batsmen, barring their innings-lead effort against Tamil Nadu in Chennai earlier this month, have been below-par in their two other games against Baroda and Uttar Pradesh.
“The problem is on the mental side of it. They were mentally wary,” noted Arun Kumar.
“They should play more freely. They were probably more worried about the track than their ability to get runs.
“Batting is a definitely a concern. They have to be more positive. They need to look for runs -- that’s when body movements get better. Hopefully, in the second innings we can put on a better show,” said the former Karnataka skipper.
Further lashing out at his batsmen, Arun Kumar, who also added that it is high time the boys stepped up, said: “The wicket was lively but as first-class cricketers we shouldn’t be giving any reasons. You should be able to play the good balls; that’s why you are playing at this level.”
Worried Vinay
Skipper R Vinay Kumar seconded his coach’s take on an yet another disappointing batting display from his team.
“With the kind of batting line up we have, we could have easily got a 100-run lead. But the thing is that in the mind, the batsmen have thought that it is a seaming track. But we should also give some credit to the Odisha bowlers because they bowled in the right areas.”
On a couple of occasions during the day’s play, both the sides were involved in exchange of words, but none was worse than when Deepak Behera hurled expletives at Karnataka’s Stuart Binny after scalping his wicket.
The seamer received a warning from the match referee but Vinay was of another opinion. “If we play normal cricket there is no fun. There has to be a bit of aggression,” laughed the pacer.