Veteran Tamil Nadu batter Dinesh Karthik has opened fire against Tamil Nadu coach Sulakshan Kulkarni for blaming captain Sai Kishore after the semi-finals defeat to Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.

As per the Mumbai-based coach, Kulkarni, the decision to bat first on a greenish pitch at the BKC Ground in Mumbai was a wrong call and due to that decision, Tamil Nadu lost the match even before the first ball was bowled.

Tamil Nadu were bundled out for 146 runs on Day 1. In response, Kishore picked up a five-wicket haul to raise some hopes for his side but Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian displayed resilience to guide their side to a 233-run lead in the first innings. The visitors were then bundled out for 162, with Mumbai registering victory by an innings and 70-run to reach their 48th final.

“The match was lost at 9 am (on Day 1),” Kulkarni said after the loss.

“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.

Karthik did not take the comments lightly as he took to X and said: “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”.

Meanwhile, former India and Tamil Nadu batter WV Raman also supported Sai Kishore, saying: “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”.

Incidentally, this season marked the first for Kishore as the captain of Tamil Nadu. He successfully led them to their first knockout appearance since 2016-17.