Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik’s ‘heroic’ effort led the Indian cricket team to victory in the finale of Nidahas Trophy tri-series final against Bangladesh on Sunday.
Indian batters (Vijay Shankar and Manish Pandey) were struggling to score big runs when India needed 34 runs in just two overs. However, after Pandey was sent back to pavilion at the score of 28, Dinesh Karthik took the charge of Indian innings and scored 29 off eight balls and helped India seal the title.
Talking to the media at the post-match press conference, stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma said Karthik was upset with his demotion.
“I told him I want you to bat and finish off the game for us, because whatever skill you have, it will be required in the last three or four overs. He can do that for us. That is the only reason he was not batting at six in the 13th over when I got out. He was quite upset with that. He’ll now be quite happy how he finished off the game. To do what he did today will give him a lot of confidence going forward,” Rohit Sharma said.
In the final over of the match, Vijay Shankar (17) lost his wicket to Soumya Sarkar, and India needed five runs off one delivery.
On strike batsman, Karthik carved a full and wide ball over deep extra cover for a six and just like that the celebration in the Indian camp started.
Rohit Sharma also revealed that his team was totally prepared for playing the super over.
“Last ball, I had already gone inside to wear my pads thinking about a super over. So I did not see the last ball. The way the celebrations kicked off in the dressing room, I got to know we have won and Dinesh has hit that six,” Rohit Sharma added.