Nidahas Trophy: 3 reasons why Dinesh Karthik was a hit in the tournament
Just before leaving for the South Africa tour Dinesh Karthik had said, "After a point in my career, I realized that it's good to score runs but you are remembered a lot of because of the tournaments you've won and the number of times you've stood up [for your team] in big matches". Three months later, he has accomplished precisely that.
Since he made his ODI debut against England in 2004 at the tender age of 19, Karthik has been dropped a number of times from the team but he has never lost hope. Rather every time that he has been sidelined, he has scored loads of runs in the domestic circuit and staged a strong comeback.
Nidahas Trophy was a crucial juncture in the life of the Tamil Nadu keeper. It could have taken his cricketing career either way. However, with a couple of impressive knocks in the tournament, Karthik has done his future prospects no harm. Here are three reasons why Dinesh Karthik was a hit in the Nidahas Trophy.
#1 Final flourish
Given a target of 167 by Bangladesh in the final of the Nidahas Trophy, India had a decent start owing to Rohit Sharma’s 56-run knock but lost their way in the middle overs after a couple of quick wickets.
Following Mustafizur Rahman’s incredible 18th over in which he conceded just one run and picked up the all-important wicket of Manish Pandey, India needed 34 runs to win off the last 12 deliveries when Dinesh Karthik came out to bat.
The 32-year old made his intentions clear on the very first ball he faced by clobbering a low full-toss from Rubel Hossain straight over his head for a massive six. He went on to score 29 runs off the 8 balls he faced, the highlight being his last ball six over covers to seal the game for the Men in Blue. Karthik deservingly walked away with the Man of the Match award for his brilliant effort.