I was abused for saying it’s raining and not waking up early: Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik, the veteran Indian cricketer, revealed that he had to face abuse on social media during the World Test Championship (WTC) final last month. The match between India and New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in Southampton was marred by rain and it went down to the Reserve Day where the Kiwis won by eight wickets.

Karthik was the only Indian commentator in the high-voltage encounter apart from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. The 36-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman stated that he was abused for saying that “it’s raining” and also for “not waking up early”.

The Tamil Nadu-born Karthik, who last played for India back in July 2019, put forth his opinions while speaking on the ‘22 Yarns with Gaurav Kapur’ podcast.

They took it too seriously on social media: Dinesh Karthik

“‘Weatherman’ is a very double-edged sword; I’ll put it on record. The first day, a lot of praise, the second day, very happy, the third day they started abusing me. I wanted to sleep yaar; I can’t wake up every day at 6’o clock to give a weather report.

“They took it too seriously on social media. They started abusing me saying, ‘Wake up! What the hell are you doing?’ in far more choice words that I can’t use on the podcast, just for not waking up, which was hard but you have to live up to their expectations I guess. I got abused for saying it was raining!” Karthik stated.

“Two things I got abused for were for saying it’s gray and it’s raining and the fact that I couldn’t wake up early to give the news. And a lot of it, I am talking about thousands of abuses. Not one or two, that I would have let go. Thousands saying ‘Wake up, wake the hell up’,” Karthik added.

Karthik, of late, found himself tangled in controversy during England’s ODI series against Sri Lanka. He made a remark, which was deemed sexist, and later he apologised for the same. He said that he got a ‘lot of stick’ from his mother and wife.

As far as his cricket career is concerned, Karthik will next be seen in September and October during the second leg of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). He is likely to lead the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as Eoin Morgan may not be available due to national duties.