Dinesh Karthik may have appeared cool during his breathtaking blitz that won India the Nidahas Trophy in the final against Bangladesh on Tuesday, but beneath those calm nerves was a simmering desire to not let the effort of India's youngsters go waste.
Coming in to bat in the penultimate over of India's chase, Karthik announced his arrival at the crease with two sixes and a four in the first three balls, after the equation read 34 runs needed in 12 balls.
The drama reached the final ball of the match, with India needing five runs to win and four to force the match into a Super Over. Facing part-time Soumya Sarkar, Karthik slammed a flat six over extra cover to clinch the issue.
"Really happy to come out of this tournament. Wouldn't have done justice to the tournament had we not won with the bunch of young guys in the team," Karthik said, dedicating the win to the hard work of youngsters in the Indian team.
"I have been practising these shots - having a strong base and then hitting from there," Karthik said after the match. "Happy to be where I'm and thanks to the support staff who have kept on supporting me for the last few months," he added.
Set a target of 167 to win, the foundation of India's chase was once again set up by skipper Rohit Sharma (56) but he failed to last the distance. Manish Pandey (28) played sedate innings but was dismissed when needed the most. Then came Karthik who took India to victory.
(With inputs from IANS)
