Throwback: When Dinesh Karthik Single-Handedly Helped India Sail Through

Published 03/17/2020, 3:25 PM EDT

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On this day, two years ago, Dinesh Karthik played an astonishing inning as India vanquished Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy finale in Colombo.

Dinesh Karthik watched the video of Javed Miandad’s last-ball six off Chetan Sharma when he was 10 years of age.

It stayed as a dream in him. “I always thought about hitting the final delivery for a six and taking India past the line,” he said.

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All things considered, when Miandad struck that hair-raising competition-winning blow in that Austral-Asia Cup Final at Sharjah in 1986, Karthik was under a year-old.

Presently, he was a senior cricketer in the Indian team. What’s more, the occasion, when Bangladesh’s Soumya Sarkar ran in, it was his shot at long-awaited glory.

Watching that pulse beating end in Colombo was Indian coach Ravi Shastri who was in that Indian group amazed by Miandad’s knockout blow 32 years ago.

He hurried to the ground in alleviation and satisfaction after the match’s fiery end.

The Bangladesh group played amazing cricket in the competition and made sure about the spot in the Tri-Series final.

They lost both the matches against India in the pool stage. Bangladesh was prepared to dole out the retributions in the great finale.

The finale of Nidahas Trophy

In the final, Bangladesh was approached to bat first. They posted 166 on the board, because of Sabbir Rahman, who crushed an imperative 77 from only 50 balls. For India, Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers. The leggie got three wickets for just 18 runs in four overs.

In answer, India had a poor beginning. They lost two wickets right on time for 32 as Shikhar Dhawan (10) and Suresh Raina (0). However, at that point captain Rohit Sharma (56) and KL Rahul (24) held hands to remove the team from the inconvenience.

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The pair of Rohit and Rahul added a crucial 51-run remain before Rubel Hossain sent the Karnataka batsman back to the hole. In the meantime, Rohit arrived at his fifty. He was looking settled to fabricate another partnership with Manish Pandey (28). Notwithstanding, Nazmul Islam got the Indian captain for 56.

Before long Pandey excessively got out, and India was decreased to 133-5 after 18 overs. India required 34 of two overs. Bangladesh was especially nearer to guarantee the triumph. Yet Dinesh Karthik, who had quite recently come to take the strike, carried a turnaround alongside him.

Rubel, who had a decent match, took the ball to bowl the second last over. However, he had no clue what Karthik had anticipated him. The Tamil Nadu batsman welcomed the Bangladeshi bowler with a six over long-on. It was followed by a four in deep mid-wicket and another six at the square-leg region.

Karthik gathered 16 runs off the initial three balls and six in the rest to take 22 runs from Rubel’s over. India at that point required only 12 from the last over. The Bangladeshi captain gave over the ball to part-timer Saumya Sarkar.

Glory over for Dinesh Karthik

It was the turn of Vijay Shankar. He missed the first delivery as it floated down to the leg stump. Luckily for India, it was called wide by the umpire.

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In the following ball, Shankar went for the glory shot however missed the ball totally, and the weight was back on India. At that point, Karthik had a word with the newcomer, and Shankar tapped the following ball on the covers to bring Karthik once more into the strike.

Be that as it may, Karthik took a single on the third ball. At that point, Shankar guided the full outside off delivery bowled by Sarkar towards the third man for four, and India currently required five from two.

In the following ball, Shankar attempted to hit it over long-off, however, because of horrible timing, he ended up being dismissed and left the team to get 5 from 1. The main positive thing that occurred for India was that Karthik was back on strike.

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On the last ball, Sarkar bowled a half-volley outside off which was pounded by Karthik to the extra cover region for a six and India sealed an emotional triumph.

Karthik stayed unbeaten on 29 off 8 balls that likewise earned him the man of the match award.

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Written by:

Abhay Aggarwal

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Abhay Aggarwal is sports analyst at EssentiallySports. Having joined ES in early 2020, he has over 300 NASCAR, Formula 1, and Tennis articles to his name. Abhay has been an avid motorsports fan for over a decade, and he even attended the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011.
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