IND vs ENG: Dinesh Karthik slams Rohit Sharma after India's Hyderabad Test defeat - 'He needs to understand that...'

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In the first Test which India lost by 28 runs despite taking a 190-run lead, England dragged their first innings from 137/6 to 246. In the second innings, India broke the partnership between their last specialist batting pair at the score of 275, but Ollie Pope hanged around with the tail-enders to take England to 420.

Rehan Ahmed scored 28 runs off 53 balls, while debutant Tom Hartley also chipped in with 34 runs off 52 balls. England were able to set a 231-run target for India despite conceding a massive 190-run first innings lead.

“Rohit Sharma needs to understand that in Test cricket, just like his batting, he needs to attack and show intent with the ball as well. A No. 9 or No. 10 batter can’t come on a turning pitch and take singles easily. He shouldn’t be allowing that. That is the time to buck up, and that’s an area they missed with the ball,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.

Further, Dinesh Karthik also suggested that Rohit Sharma should not always listen to the bowlers and give them a defensive field set up. He said Rohit should ask them to bowl with attacking fields, especially when a new batter has walked in the middle.

“India definitely didn’t bowl well. The one thing Rohit Sharma needs to do in the next Test is not accept whatever the bowler is setting in terms of field. A lot of the times I’ve seen bowlers sometimes try to be more defensive than they need to be. He needs to push the bowlers to set slightly attacking fields, at least to the opponent bowlers and batters who have just walked in,” the Chennai-born cricketer concluded.

India will face England in the second Test match in Visakhapatnam from February 2. India will look to bounce back in the 5-Test series with a win over a pumped up English team who are eyeing first Test series win in India since 2012.