Dinesh Karthik reveals total shock at No.5 promotion during World Cup 2019 semi-final

Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik recently during an online chat with Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz revealed that he was surprised when being asked to bat at No.4 during the semi-final of the World Cup 2019 against New Zealand. Dinesh Karthik only managed to score 5 runs as India lost the match by 18 runs and crashed out of the tournament. New Zealand, on the other hand, progressed into the final where they lost to eventual champions England via the boundary count rule.

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World Cup 2019: Dinesh Karthik reflects on his batting promotion  

While talking to Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik said that he was taken aback when he was suddenly to get himself ready to bat at No.5 ahead of MS Dhoni in the World Cup 2019 semi-final.  He claimed that the Indian team management had made it very clear to him that he would be batting at No.7, a place at which MS Dhoni eventually batted, much to the surprise and chagrin of many. India had lost openers Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli quite early in the match so Karthik dwas told to pad up and got promoted to stop the flow of quick wickets.

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Dinesh Karthik further said that he was just sitting in his shorts but had to get ready since India had already lost wickets. He added that he was late to get in and wasn't expecting a wicket to fall but KL Rahul got out and he had to put his pads on. 

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The player from Tamil Nadu further said that he went in to bat in the third over and had no idea when he got out and it didn't matter since he was just trying to stop the fall of wickets till Trent Boult's spell was over. Speaking about Trent Boult, Dinesh Karthik said that the Kiwi pacer was the main wrecker-in-chief and when it was time for him to score runs, he was unlucky to get out thanks to a brilliant catch by James Neesham.

Karthik believes that a World Cup semi-final is not just any other game, because the pressure is indeed intense, which multiplies against a team like New Zealand.

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World Cup 2019: Team India's performance in the semi-final

Chasing a moderate target of 240, the Indian team management then decided to promote Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik to stem New Zealand's charge after taking out India's famed top order. While Karthik failed, Hardik Pandya (32 runs) and Rishabh Pant (32) did try to revive the innings but both of them were dismissed as India came under intense pressure.

Following the collapse, it was Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni who tried to get the innings back on track. With India at 92/6, the MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja took the 'Men in Blue' past the 200-run mark. Just when looked like India would pull off a miraculous victory, Jadeja was dismissed by Trent Boult for 77 and MS Dhoni was run out by Martin Guptill for 50, ending India's chances of victory.