Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy | It is my duty to be proud of my team, asserts Dinesh karthik

12/02/2019

Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik has said that he was extremely proud of the way his team played throughout the tournament despite losing the final by just one run. Karthik has lead TN to two finals already this season and is hoping that his team will replicate this form in the Ranji season.

It was heartbreak for Tamil Nadu yet again as Karnataka clinched a last-gasp win to emerge as the champions of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament. Tamil Nadu were in a great position at one stage needing just 30 to win from three overs with six wickets in hand but Karnataka held their nerve to grab the win and Tamil Nadu faced their second defeat in a final in the space of a month.

However, skipper Dinesh Karthik is extremely proud of the efforts that his team has taken to reach this far in the tournament and has no such regrets as he is satisfied with the way his team has played.

"When I look back after a few years I would feel that it would've been great had we won. Some of the boys have stood up, we have played great cricket and I think it my duty as a leader to be proud of this team," Karthik said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

"At the start of the year if you'd have told me that we would've been in the finals of both white-ball tournaments I would've taken it any day," he further added.

Karthik does not want to keep on overthinking about the game and feels that his team too should move on and concentrate now on an important Ranji Trophy season that is coming up. He is very hopeful that his team will be able to take the confidence gained in this tournament as well as in the Vijay Hazare Trophy into the Ranji Trophy and try to perform well consistently.

"This is not the game where I would like to sit and analyse. Every game was a knockout for us in the Super League after the first game. We have got the talent, we have got the guts," Karthik stated.

"Really looking forward to the Ranji Trophy and the boys would put their best foot forward," Karthik concluded.