MEMORY FOR A LIFETIME: KARTHIK
KARTHIK WAS UPSET ABOUT HIS BATTING POSITION: ROHIT
Colombo, March 19: Dinesh Karthik is no Hrishikesh Kanitkar or Joginder Sharma but the Indian batsman is not complaining about the “memories of a lifetime” that his last-ball six against Bangladesh created.
Kanitkar’s boundary against Pakistan under fading Bangabandhu Stadium lights in Dhaka or Joginder Sharma’s final over act against the arch-rivals in the inaugural World Cup at the Wanderers were one-off acts that made them household names.
Karthik, during his sporadic India appearances in the last 13 and half years, has certainly done more than Kanitkar or Joginder but perhaps never had that “me too” moment that every cricketer craves for.
“It’s an amazing feeling. These are things which remain in your memory for a lifetime,” an ecstatic Karthik told bcci.tv after the end of the Nidahas Trophy final on Sunday.
Karthik did a Javed Miandad with a last-ball six as India pulled off an incredible chase beating Bangladesh by four wickets.
Needing five off the final delivery, Karthik smashed Soumya Sarkar over extra-cover to secuire what would certainly be one of India’s most famous last ball sixes.
“It’s been a great journey for the past one year and I am very happy to be a part of this. We have put in a lot of hard work and it’s good to have won the tournament at the end of it all. I want to thank the support staff for the effort they have put in,” the 32-yearold said.
India’s ‘man of the moment’ tried to position himself in the crease preempting what Rubel Hossain and Soumya Sarkar would bowl during the final two overs of their Nidahas Trophy triumph.
“At that stage, all I was trying to do was hit a boundary every ball. I was positioning myself on the crease according to what he would bowl. It kind of paid off,” the affable Tamil Nadu cricketer was trying to be modest.
Karthik expressed his surprise at the number of Sri Lankan supporters, who had turned up to support India. — PTI Colombo, March 19: Dinesh Karthik is always ready to deliver whatever the situation may be and his experience and repertoire of strokes make him a suitable candidate to provide the final flourish for India at the death overs, skipper Rohit Sharma said. Wicket-keeper batsman Karthik (29 of 8 balls), who has made sporadic international appearances, produced a lastball six as India pulled off an incredible chase beating Bangladesh by four wickets in the Nidhas T20 Tri-series final, here on Sunday. “He was with us on the previous tour in South Africa and didn’t get much game time. To do what he did today will give him a lot of confidence going forward,” Rohit said. “Most important thing he has is belief in himself. Whatever situation comes, he’s ready — whether he bats up the order or down the order. That’s the kind of guy we need in our team.” Rohit revealed Karthik was not happy that he was not batting higher in the order but the Indian skipper defended his decision of sending him at number 7 saying his experience and skills made him a suitable candidate to provide the late charge in the final overs.
“When I got out, I went and sat in the dugout and Dinesh was quite upset that he didn’t bat at No. 6,” Rohit said.
“But 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’. That is the only reason he was not batting at No. 6 in the 13th over when I got out. He was upset with that, but he’ll be quite happy now how he finished off the game.”
Lavishing praise on Karthik, Rohit said: “I have to go back to the kinds of shots that he has in his books — it suits him to finish off games at the death where you have to use that one fielder that is inside the circle — either fine leg, or midoff or short third man.”
The Indian team right now is a tough place to get an opportunity, but once you get it, you’ve got to make the most of it. Full credit to the support staff for giving me the confidence. — Dinesh Karthik