‘Karthik was upset at being demoted’
COLOMBO: Rohit Sharma, the Indian cricket team skipper, admitted Dinesh 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 said at the post-match press conference.
SUPER OVER
When Vijay Shankar (17) fell in the final over bowled by Soumya Sarkar, India needed five runs off one ball. Karthik, though was on strike and he carved a full and wide ball over deep extra cover for a six.
The Indian skipper though was all prepared for 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 said.
Rohit explained the situation Vijay Shankar underwent in the final overs. “We always knew that there’s one experienced player and one guy who has the talent to play those big shots. Unfortunately, Shankar couldn’t connect but then he hadn’t batted at all in this tournament. It was his first time and to bat in such pressure, it is never easy. I am sure he would have learnt a lot,” Rohit said.
‘NEVER EASY AT DEATH’
Karthik slammed 22 runs in the 19th over bowled by Rubel Hossain and Rohit admitted India were lucky in having that one big over. “It can happen to anyone. It can happen to anyone when you bowl those big overs. It’s never easy at the death. The pressure is always on the bowler not the batsmen,” the Indian skipper said.
SHAKIB SHOCKED
A shell-shocked Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan, speaking in the post-match press conference, said Karthik’s cameo was an exhibition in hitting.
“It is not easy to hit a low fulltoss like that. Five of the eight balls he faced went for boundaries. It was amazing hitting. I don’t know many batsmen who can hit a six off the first ball, and then keep hitting the boundaries. There was something otherworldly about it,” Shakib said.
Shakib explained the logic behind getting Rubel to bowl in the penultimate over.
“When Mustafizur bowled that brilliant (18th) over, India needed 35. Rubel was our best bowler after the way he bowled the first three overs. I believed in him. I thought even if he bowled badly, he would go for 15 runs. I would have 20 runs to play with during the last over, which would have given Soumya some cushion,” Shakib said.