Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik has faced lot of questions for not taking a crucial single during the series-deciding Hamilton T20I on last Sunday (10 February). He has finally opened up about the incident as he was confident to hit the sixer.
Chasing down the 213-run target in that series-deciding game, India was once struggling on 145/6 in 15.2 overs. However, Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya rescued the team from that situation and brought them closure to the victory. In the final over of the match, India needed 16 runs to win. On the third ball of that over, Dinesh Karthik hit a shot to long-on but refused to take a certain single while Krunal Pandya was once very close to complete his single before returning to the non-striker end.
Although Dinesh Karthik hit a sixer on the final ball of the game, India were five runs short from the target. The visiting side India lost that game by four runs and also lost that three-match T20I series by 2-1.
Though they had the 63-run unbroken partnership for the seventh-wicket, they just failed to win the game. In the end, Dinesh Karthik was batting on 33 off 16 balls, and Krunal Pandya was not out on 26 off 13 balls.
Talking about refusing to take that crucial single, Dinesh Karthik told according to PTI, “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.”
You have to trust your ability to play those big shots under pressure
Dinesh Karthik also spoke about the importance of trusting each other at that time. He further admitted that he didn’t utilise his trust to his partner at that time.
The senior Indian cricketer added, “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. I did not come off on that occasion but those things happen in the game of cricket.”
Credited Tim Southee
In between this, Dinesh Karthik also credited the experienced New Zealand pacer Tim Southee to successfully defend that final over.
Dinesh Karthik quoted, “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 taken him down.”
The support staff understood our game plan
Dinesh Karthik was also asked about the reaction of the team management on that incident. In reply, he claimed that everyone understood their game plan and had no issue on that.
Dinesh Karthik said, “They were all aware of the situation and knew we both did the best we could. On that day, we were not good enough. But the support staff, as it has been around for a long time, understood it (our game plan).
“As I said, you keep practising those situations and because the belief I had in overcoming those situations in practice, I trusted myself do the job in the middle. I was not able to deliver it that day. That is what sport is. The more you back yourself, the more consistent you become in finishing the game.”
Dinesh Karthik is one of the in-form Indian batsmen at present. In the recent past, he was successful in snatching close victories for multiple times. The Hamilton T20I was the rarest moment when Dinesh Karthik failed to make a successful chase.