Dinesh Karthik shared his experience of playing in the Nidahas Trophy final against Bangladesh in which his cameo helped India snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in 2018.
Dinesh Karthik will always be remembered for his match-winning knock in the 2018 Nidahas Trophy Final (SLC Twitter Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Dinesh Karthik smashed 29 not out off 8 balls in the Nidahas Trophy final vs Bangladesh
- Karthik was adjudged Man of the Match for his winning knock at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo
- It was 2 overs 34 runs to win, and I still thought that I could win this: Karthik
Dinesh Karthik has been around in international cricket for nearly 16 years now but it was only in 2018 that he got his moment of glory when he played a match-winning knock in the Nidahas Trophy Final against Bangladesh to help India win from an improbable situation.
India were struggling at 133 for 5 after 18 overs while chasing 167 for victory when Dinesh Karthik walked in at No.7, two slots below his normal batting position as captain Rohit Sharma held him back for the final stages of the game, with the team needing 34 off 12 balls to win.
The decision proved to be a masterstroke from Rohit as Karthik played a breathtaking innings, smashing 29 off 8 deliveries including 3 sixes and a couple of boundaries to help India snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Talking about the best moment of his career Karthik said that he was actually waiting for a situation like this throughout his career.
“I was waiting for such a moment like that to prove myself. I had been practicing a lot to face a chance like this. When the real situation came to go through that I think it is fun at that stage.
“Lots of it happen in an auto mode. As you practice a lot and when you are at that stage you know what you need to do. I had belief that we would win that match, it was 2 overs 34 runs to win, and I still thought that I could win this game for the team,” Karthik said on Star Sports 1’s Tamil show Mind Masters by MFORE.
Karthik also opened up on the importance of mental toughness, especially for professional athletes who have to go through lot of ups and downs in their careers.
“To sum up mental toughness, it’s the ability to stay in the present consistently.
“So that whenever you face tough situations, you will get lots of random thoughts but most importantly if you can focus on what you need to do right now and consistently get that right, more often than not you will be victorious. All successful players have gained that strength over a period of time,” Karthik said.
