"Didn't Know This Was Press Conference": Annoyed Mark Waugh In On-Air Spat With Dinesh Karthik
Mark Waugh was not satisfied with Pat Cummins' field placement for Cheteshwar Pujara during the fourth innings in the Delhi Test. He expressed his opinion before Dinesh Karthik fired counter questions at him, eventually making him angry.
Former Australia skipper Mark Waugh was involved in a spat with out-of-favour India player Dinesh Karthik on Sunday. Both the former internationals -- who are part of the official broadcaster's commentary panel for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy -- differed with each other's opinions. It all started with Waugh's dissatisfaction with the field set by Australia skipper Pat Cummins during the fourth innings of the second Test match between India and Australia in New Delhi. Back-to-back counter questions from Karthik to Waugh irked the Australian star before he lost his cool and Sanjay Manjrekar had to intervene to calm things down.
Waugh opined that instead of a deep point for Pujara, Cummins should have brought the fielder nearer to the batter to pack the off side.
To this, Karthik questioned: "So you are unhappy with the field. There is nobody for Rohit Sharma, you are okay with that. Would you do the same as a captain?"
Mark Waugh replied: " I am not talking about Rohit Sharma, he is a completely different player DK."
"... We obviously think different.. but I want to pack that off side for Pujara, think there is a big chance of getting, squeezing one there," Waugh said.
"I want to pack that offside, have my point up, have the catching cover stay there... reasonable field," he added
Karthik didn't back off and said: "Really, you don't think he would have found the trap in that one. He had time."
Annoyed by Karthik's counter questions, Waugh said: "I didn't know this was a press conference. You are going to get one question per session, right?"
This is when Sanjay Manjrekar intervened to Waugh. "Okay, I am going to step in here," said the former India cricketer and read out the score.
Talking about the game, India defeated Australia by six wickets in the Delhi Test to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series. Chasing a target of 115 in the fourth innings, the Rohit Sharma-led side comfortably reached home, thanks to Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 31.
India Cricket Team
Australia Cricket Team
Pat Cummins
Cheteshwar Pujara
Dinesh Karthik