Sharath, Mathias will learn from their mistake: Gopal

Karnataka vice-captain Shreyas Gopal stopped short of admonishing BR Sharath and David Mathias for throwing away their wickets cheaply but said the duo had regret written all over their faces and is confident they will not repeat such blunders in the future.

Sharath and Mathias, with Karnataka still in the arrears against Uttar Pradesh, embraced bravado when the need of the hour was caution and grit. Both tried to step down and attack left-arm orthodox spinner Saurabh Kumar and perished, leaving Karnataka in a spot of bother at 222/7. The disappointment on non-striker Shreyas’ face was quite evident as the hosts needlessly made lives difficult for themselves.

“Yes, it (the big shots) could have been avoided,” said a candid Shreyas, who scored a gritty 58 to help Karnataka take the first innings lead. “It’s early in their career, so they will definitely learn from it. When I came back for lunch, they were really disappointed. It really hurt them. At least they are learning from their mistakes. They won’t make this mistake the next time.”

Karnataka have made a splendid start to the season so far, winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy, successfully defending the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and winning the opening Ranji Trophy clash against Tamil Nadu last week. In all of that, seniors KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, K Gowtham and Abhimanyu Mithun have been the key performers with teenage talent Devdutt Padikkal being one of the newbies to flourish along.

When asked if seniors are enjoying taking up extra responsibilities, Shreyas said performances of juniors are just getting masked by the brilliance of seasoned campaigners. “I think more than me showing the way or Mithun showing the way or Gowtham showing the way, it’s very important that someone has to deliver on that particular day. Everyone is not going to have their best day and whoever is bowling well or batting well on that day, they have to see the team through. If you look at the previous match in Dindigul, Ronit (More) and (V) Koushik they bowled really well to support Gowtham.

“Their performance obviously goes neglected because they didn’t come out with six wickets and five wickets. The pressure they put was great. It’s not a three-person show so far and everyone has been doing well in bits and pieces. It’s important that we come out as a team and put in those performances consistently.”