Dinesh Karthik reveals why he refused to give up strike against New Zealand
Dinesh Karthik admitted that he was extremely confident that he could go big in the last over in the final T20I against New Zealand as he refused to take a quick single and get Krunal Pandya on strike. India went on to lose the match by four runs and lost the series by 2-1 as well.
India succumbed to a narrow four-run loss in the final T20I against Kane Williamson & Co. which condemned Rohit Sharmaâs boys to a 2-1 series defeat last week. Many expected the visitors to see through the game comfortably but it went down to the very last delivery with Dinesh Karthik on strike.
Karthik needed to 12 runs of the last two balls to seal a victory for the visitors but he could only manage one biggie resulting in the hosts escaping with a narrow victory. Karthik had also refused a single to non-striker Krunal Pandya on the previous delivery backing himself to go the distance on the final ball of the innings. However, a repeat of
"I genuinely believed that I could hit a six. I think Krunal and I batted really well from that situation (145/6). We were able to bring the match down to a place where the bowlers were under pressure. We backed ourselves to do the job. And at that stage (after refusing the single), I genuinely believed that I could hit a six," Karthik told PTI reporters on Wednesday.
However, Karthik wasnât wrong to back himself for it was him and Krunal, who had taken the game to the final over in Hamilton after India were 145/6 in the 16th over, needing another 68 off 28 balls. Both Krunal and Karthik shared an unbeaten 63-run stand off 28 balls but it was not enough to save the series.Â
"As a middle-order batsman, a lot of times you have to trust your ability to play those big shots under pressure. It is also important to trust your partner at that time. It did not come off on that occasion but those things happen in the game of cricket. Some days you are able to hit a boundary, some days the bowler does a good job. And there, you have to give credit to Tim Southee for the way he executed those yorkers under pressure. One mistake there and I am sure we would have
