Every cricketer has memorable moments in their career. Indian veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik will be always remembered for his last-ball six against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy. On the RCB podcast, Dinesh Karthik recalled many things including his stint with KKR, Nidahas Trophy heroics, Abhishek Nayar’s influence on his career, and his competition with MS Dhoni.
Dinesh Karthik, who made a sensational comeback to the Indian team for the 2022 World cup failed to perform as the team would have expected him to perform in the tournament–and has been sidelined from Indian Team since the T20 world cup.
Karthik recalled the historical final against Bangladesh, where he usually bats in the 10th to 12th over the mark in the tournaments, but Vijay Shankar was sent ahead of Dinesh Karthik. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma wanted him to finish the match
” I padded up in the second or the third over, waiting to walk out. I kept on standing up to walk out and Rohit told me, not now. There was a wicket in the 15th over. I was sure that it was my turn to walk out to the center. Rohit once again made me sit and in the 18th over, it was Manish Pandey who got out. Eventually, I went to the center.”
Dinesh Karthik came into bat when India required 34 runs in two overs and he straight away went for the kill by scoring 22 runs in the 19th over by hitting two sixes and two fours of Bangladesh Rubel Hossain to put the pressure on the bowling side.
“Two overs and 34 runs mean that you will have to try and go at as many balls as you can. I started hitting and the fans brought out the Naagin Dance and we ended up winning the match. So when you face an equation of 34 from 2 overs, you end up thinking about where to hit boundaries and so. I found myself in a few good positions and played some good shots.”
The 37-year-old will play for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2023. He would look to win the maiden title for RCB in 2023. Royal Challengers will play their first match against Mumbai Indians on April 2 in Bangalore.
The Final Ball Where 5 Runs Were Required – Dinesh Karthik Recalls The Final Over
India required 12 runs off the last over and Soumya Sarkar bowled brilliantly well by conceding just 7 runs of 5 balls and picking up the wicket Vijay Shankar. India wanted to score a maximum to win the tournament and Dinesh Karthik scored a six over covers to take India home.
“It all came down to the final ball where 5 runs were required. This guy was at the top of his mark. I was like, wherever he bowls, I will hit it. He bowled a good delivery, that was outside off-stump and slightly full. Luckily for me, I connected that well and it was a big ground. The ball travelled flat but travelled nonetheless and it was a six and we ended up winning the tournament.”
Dinesh Karthik was awarded the man of the match in the final and he said that it was one of the most memorable tournaments of his career.