Dinesh Karthik’s amazing hitting out of this world: Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh were on the cusp of victory when India needed 34 off 12 balls in the final of the Nidahas Trophy tri-series. However, Dinesh Karthik’s magnificent 29 off eight balls, which included 22 runs in the 19th over bowled by Rubel Hossain and a last-ball six, helped Rohit Sharma’s side clinch the title in a dramatic match at the R Premadasa stadium on Sunday. (IND v BAN HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD)

A shell-shocked Shakib Al Hasan, speaking in the post-match press conference, said Karthik’s cameo was an exhibition in hitting. “It is not an easy thing to do to hit a low full-toss like that. Five of the eight balls he faced went for boundaries. It was amazing hitting. I don’t know many batsmen who can hit a six off the first ball, and then keep hitting the boundaries. There was something otherworldly about it,” Shakib said.

The penultimate over bowled by Rubel was the moment Karthik seized and the Indian wicketkeeper blasted two sixes and two fours to turn the match. Karthik’s onslaught undid all the earlier work put by Bangladesh’s bowlers in the middle period in which they did not concede a boundary for close to five overs.

Shakib explained the logic behind getting Rubel to bowl the penultimate over.

“When Mustafizur bowled that brilliant (18th) over, India needed 35. Rubel was our best bowler after the way he bowled the first three overs. I believed in him. I thought even if he bowled badly, he would go for 15 runs. I would have 20 runs to play with during the last two overs, which would have given Soumya some cushion,” Shakib said.

‘4-5 runs short’

Sabbir Rahman’s (77) fourth fifty had helped Bangladesh stage a recovery after they lost wickets at regular intervals. However, the Bangladesh skipper reckoned that the final total of 166/8 was still not enough against India’s power-packed batting line-up.

“It was a tough period for us when we lost three quick wickets. If we played better, we may have scored more runs. I think overall we were 10-15 runs short but if someone asked me at the start of the game what was my ideal score in a final, I would have said 170 so I think we were 4-5 runs short,” Shakib said.

The Bangladesh skipper is hopeful of learning from the narrow losses. Before the last ball six by Karthik, Bangladesh had lost by one run in the 2016 World T20 encounter in Bangalore. “There are many positives. We are scoring consistently. Some of our bowlers did really well. We fielded really well too. We needed that extra edge, and hopefully we will get better,” Shakib said.