Dinesh Karthik says seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli definitely responsible for series loss vs New Zealand

Dinesh Karthik has put the onus of India's first home Test series defeat in 12 years on senior players Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. India's streak of 18 Test series wins at home was broken after a 113-run defeat against New Zealand in the second Test on Saturday, October 27.

Karthik, who shares close relations with all these senior players, minced no words and stated that seniors players should be held accountable, and asked how are they planning to bounce back in the coming matches.

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"Yeah, why shouldn't it be on senior players? They will look at themselves and say, 'What could we have done better?'. I don't think they will run away from it," Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz after being asked if the onus of the home Test series loss falls on the big players.

"If you can celebrate the highs, and the fans enjoy, and how important they are when the team wins. Then when the losses happen, and the brickbats are thrown at you, I think they will have the courage to face it. If you go and ask each one of them personally of what they think of this series, I don't think they will have great things to say of how the whole team has played.

"It is only but fair, to ask them questions about what can be done better for the future of Test cricket in India, and Indian Test cricket. The question then becomes what do they need to do to do better? And it is a very very correct question to ask," the former India wicketkeeper-batter added.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma failed in both the innings of the Pune Test. Rohit was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, and eight runs in the second innings. Kohli scored 1 in the first innings and 17 in the second.

Ravindra Jadeja picked no wicket in the first innings, while Ashwin could manage to pick just two wickets including that of a tail-ender in the second innings. On the flip side, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner stunned everyone to pick 13 wickets in the match. Ashwin picked just one wicket in the first Test as well.