Dinesh Karthik Reveals How He Pulled Off 'Miracle Chase' In Nidhas Trophy Final

Dinesh Karthik saved India from the jaws of defeat against Bangladesh in the Nidhas Trophy final in 2018. Chasing a target of 167, India were staring down the barrel with the scoreboard reading 133/5 in the 18th over. The onus then shifted on incoming batsman Dinesh Karthik to help India sail over the line. And he wrote history in style!

India needed 34 runs off the final two overs as the finish line looked blurry from there. However, in those circumstances, Dinesh Karthik was not ready to surrender and calmly planned to open the attack on the opposition.

Dinesh Karthik: When I went in I definitely had a plan

Bangladesh fast bowler Rubel Hossain was blown away all over the park for 22 runs in the 19th over. And Dinesh Karthik finished off the things with a six off Soumya Sarkar, who kept things pretty tight, in the final over. Karthik stayed unbeaten on 29 runs off 8 balls and was subsequently adjudged the man-of-the-match. In an interaction with Harsha Bhogle, Dinesh Karthik revealed how he pulled off the miracle run chase.

“When I went in I definitely had a plan. This is where practice helps you. You go over and over something and then you hit an auto mode. Going in knowing what you need to do gives you a better chance of achieving what you want to,” Dinesh Karthik said in an interview to Cricbuzz.

“When I went in I believed I could do it and that set me up for what I needed to do to achieve it. That is when the programming sort of happened as to where he would bowl and where I would stand and which gap. If you want to be consistent as a finisher that is how you must think and that is how I programmed the entire innings,” he added.

The match will always be remembered as one of the fine chases in the shortest format.