Veteran Tamil Nadu batter Dinesh Karthik has slammed coach Sulakshan Kulkarni's comments blaming captain Sai Kishore for the Ranji Trophy semifinal defeat to Mumbai on Monday. Mumbaikar Kulkarni, who took over coaching duties of Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2023-24 domestic season, lamented skipper Sai Kishore's decision to bat first after winning the toss against Mumbai on a greenish pitch at the BKC ground. Tamil Nadu suffered a horrendous collapse on the opening day, eventually being bundled out by Mumbai for a paltry 146. In reply, Sai Kishore's five-wicket haul raised some hopes for Tamil Nadu before Mumbai's lower-order, led by Shardul Thakur's blistering maiden First-Class century and no. 10 Tanush Kotian's unbeaten 89, raced to a 233-run first-innings lead. The visitors were then bundled out for 162, with Mumbai registering an innings and 70-run win to reach their 48th Ranji final. Post the defeat, Kulkarni said: 'The match was lost at 9 am (on Day 1).' Kulkarni said he'd provided Sai Kishore with all the inputs from his years of experience of playing and working in Mumbai. '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. However, Karthik slammed Kulkarni for throwing the captain under the bus in the wake of the defeat. '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,' Karthik wrote on X.