Veteran Tamil Nadu batter Dinesh Karthik has slammed coach Sulakshan Kulkarni's comments blaming captain Sai Kishore for the Ranji Trophy semifinal defeat to Mumbai on Monday. Mumbaikar Kulkarni, who took over coaching duties of Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2023-24 domestic season, lamented skipper Sai Kishore's decision to bat first after winning the toss against Mumbai on a greenish pitch at the BKC ground. Tamil Nadu suffered a horrendous collapse on the opening day, eventually being bundled out by Mumbai for a paltry 146. In reply, Sai Kishore's five-wicket haul raised some hopes for Tamil Nadu before Mumbai's lower-order, led by Shardul Thakur's blistering maiden First-Class century and no. 10 Tanush Kotian's unbeaten 89, raced to a 233-run first-innings lead. The visitors were then bundled out for 162, with Mumbai registering an innings and 70-run win to reach their 48th Ranji final. 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐢 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥! 👏A superb performance from the @ajinkyarahane88-led side as they beat Tamil Nadu by an innings and 70 runs in Semi Final 2 of the @IDFCFIRSTBank #RanjiTrophy 🙌#MUMvTN | #SF2Scorecard ▶️ pic.twitter.com/bOikVOmBn1— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 4, 2024 Post the defeat, Kulkarni said: “The match was lost at 9 am (on Day 1).” Kulkarni said he’d provided Sai Kishore with all the inputs from his years of experience of playing and working in Mumbai. “But I can only lead a horse to water, can’t make it drink,” Kulkarni said. “I even explained to them Mumbai’s mindset," the 57-year-old added. However, Karthik slammed Kulkarni for throwing the captain under the bus in the wake of the defeat. "This is so disappointing from the coach ..instead of backing the captain who has brought the team to the semis after 7 years and thinking it's a start for good things to happen, the coach has absolutely thrown his captain and team under the bus," Karthik wrote on X. Former India and Tamil Nadu batter WV Raman also came out in support of Sai Kishore's side. "Well tried @saik_99 and team. Has been a season of trials and tribulations. But importantly, you adopted the right approach. Like truth can hurt you at times, doing the right thing might be disappointing as well. But hang in there and march on," Raman wrote on X. Well tried @saik_99 and team. Has been a season of trials and tribulations. But importantly, you adopted the right approach. Like truth can hurt you at times, doing the right thing might be disappointing as well. But hang in there and march on. @TNCACricket #cricket#TNvMUM— Woorkeri Raman aka WV (@wvraman) March 5, 2024 The 2023-24 season was Sai Kishore's first stint as captain of the senior Tamil Nadu team, leading the side to their first knockout appearance since the 2016-17 season. The lanky left-arm spinner also leads the wicket-taking charts among the Elite division teams, with 53 wickets in nine matches.
