Dinesh Karthik shares interesting anecdotes on his heroic performance in the Nidahas Trophy final

When you talk about Dinesh Karthik, the first thing that generally comes to your mind is how he peppered the Bangladesh bowling to the ropes in the Nidahas Trophy final, snatching away a victory from the very jaws of defeat for India.

Being a part of the hallowed game and penning a moment for what would remain etched in golden letters in Indian history, Karthik, the hero of that night, opened up about what it particularly felt like going into bat at that juncture and how it all ended.

Talking on the RCB Podcast Season 2, DK said, “I have talked about this for more times than I have wanted to. It has now become the most-watched video in the history of sports on Youtube. The second most watched sports video ever on Youtube is that 19th over. It is amazing how it works.”

DK continued, “The backstory of the game was that we played the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had won their first two matches in the league phase. It was a tri-nation tournament where each team had to play each other twice. In the first two games they won and had one foot in the final. It so ended up happening that they ended up losing their last two matches and rather badly to Bangladesh. Then they ended up losing out on a chance to the final.”

The Finisher Supreme further added, “They lost the second game on the trot and Bangladesh pulled off a few off-field antics. There was one occasion where the bowler took a wicket and celebrated very badly. This irked the Lankan fans and the players. In the final there were so many Sri Lankan fans in the stands and their only aim was to see Bangladesh lose, badly.”

Now raving about the game, DK said, “The first half was pretty much decent as the Indian bowlers did a great job. The second half came and they were way ahead of us. They were dominating us and we were struggling. So it came to a stage where there were 2 overs remaining and we needed 34 runs. I was padded up to go. 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 in the center.”

Karthik added, “Rohit once again made me sit and in the 18th over, it was Manish Pandey who got out. Eventually, I went to the center. Two overs and 34 runs mean that you will obviously 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.”

He continued, “So when you face an equation of 34 from 2 overs, you obviously end up thinking where to hit boundaries and so. I found myself in a few good positions and played some good shots. They didn’t see it coming because they had actually done a phenomenal job until then. Then came the final over and there was a barrage of yorkers being hurled at us. We couldn’t get anything in our favour and luckily one of them ran to the boundary and somehow I managed to get the strike.”

Stamping authority with the fairytale conclusion, DK said, “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.”