India vs Bangladesh | There was something otherworldly about Dinesh Karthik’s innings, says Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan has heaped praised on Dinesh Karthik, who scored 29 off just 8 balls in the Nidahas final against Bangladesh, by calling his innings “out of this world”. The Bangladesh skipper has also admitted that his side were 10-15 runs short against India’s strong batting line-up.
After defeating Sri Lanka in the virtual semifinal, Bangladesh managed to reach in the final of the T20I tri-series which was played on Sunday in Colombo. When Karthik joined Vijay Shankar at the crease at the start of the 19th over, India needed 34 runs to lift the trophy and the Tamil Nadu lad knew that it is the best stage to exhibit his talent and for he started off by hitting Rubel Hossain’s first delivery which was a low full toss for a maximum over long on. His presence created pressure on the opponents as he slammed one boundary, though long on, and a six, over deep square leg, on the next two balls and bringing the equation down to 18 runs needed off 9 balls. In the next delivery, Rubel delivered a slower ball outside off and Mushfiqur made an appeal but there was a huge distance between ball and bat. On the fifth delivery of the over, Karthik managed to keep the strike as he grabbed two runs for a shot hit through extra cover. His decision proved to be the right one as he went down to his knee and scooped the ball over short fine leg for a boundary to bring the required score down to 12 off the last over.
But the drama was far from done as Soumya Sarkar started off the final over with a wide. However, he made up for it by giving away just three runs in as many balls to bring his side back into the game. But the match took yet another turn as Shankar who had been struggling throughout the match managed to convert a yorker into a boundary through gully. With five required off two balls, it was India's game to lose and that is exactly what Shankar appeared to be doing as he holed out to Mehidy Hasan Miraz at long on. With Karthik on strike, India still had some hope but the Tigers looked confident and would have expected a Super Over as the worst possible outcome. However, Karthik was in no mood to play six extra balls and with a drive over extra cover, crossed the boundary and secured the Nidahas Trophy for his side.
Karthik's innings won the heart of the opponent team’s skipper who applauded his innings in the post-match conference.
“It is not an easy thing to do to hit a low full-toss 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 as quoted by Hindustan Times.
“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 two overs, which would have given Soumya some cushion.”
Bangladesh batted first and Sabbir Rehman’s (77) fourth half-century helped the side to score a decent total of 166/8 despite losing wickets at regular intervals. Shakib claimed that considering the Indian playing XI the total was not enough.
“It was a tough period for us when we lost three quick wickets. If we played better, we may have scored more runs. I think overall we were 10-15 runs short but if someone asked me at the start of the game what was my ideal score in a final, I would have said 170 so I think we were 4-5 runs short,” Shakib said.
“There are many positives. We are scoring consistently. Some of our bowlers did really well. We fielded really well too. We needed that extra edge, and hopefully, we will get better.”
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