"Not going to defend.." Dinesh Karthik reflects on Virat Kohli's poor performance against spinners during Sri Lanka ODI series

Dinesh Karthik said playing spin on the Colombo track was very hard for batters.

Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik has shed light on senior batsman Virat Kohli’s struggle against spinners in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. 

The 35-year-old Kohli had a poor series with the bat against the islanders. The right-handed batter managed only 58 runs at a below-par average of 19.33.

It was a nightmare series for the Rohit Sharma-led side as they were outclassed by the hosts and lost the three-match series 2-0, losing their first ever bilateral ODI series to Sri Lanka since 1997.

Playing spin here is very hard: Dinesh Karthik

Indian star batter Kohli failed to live up to the expectations against Sri Lanka in the three ODIs. He struggled to get going on the spin-friendly pitch in Colombo and was dismissed LBW in all three matches. This was the first time in his ODI career that he was dismissed lbw in three games in a row.

After the crushing series defeat, there has been a lot of discussion regarding Kohli’s struggle against spin. However, former wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik feels that the visitors were troubled significantly due to the amount of turn the Colombo pitch offered.

“In this series… let’s admit. Be it Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or anyone else. With a slightly semi-new ball, between overs 8-30, it’s hard work. Nothing to worry about. Not too many pitches work that way, but it’s been a tough pitch to play spinners. I’m not going to defend Virat Kohli here, but playing spin here is very hard,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

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