India locked horns with Australia in the second T20 international in Nagpur on Friday, September 23. The match was delayed due to a wet outfield because of overnight rains. The umpires finally decided to have a game of eight overs per side.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma invited Aaron Finch to bat first. Australia did a fantastic job, amassing 90 runs at the end of eight overs. Matthew Wade again displayed his brilliance with a quickfire innings of 43 (20) after Finch gave a perfect start.
In response, India has a ballistic start. Rohit lived up to his name, scoring an unbeaten match-winning knock of 46 (20). Aussies did chip in a few wickets in the middle, but Rohit held his ground. He anchored the Indian innings from one end.
.@DineshKarthik has a special message for the fans in Nagpur following #TeamaIndia's win in the 2⃣nd #INDvAUS T20I. ☺️ 👏 pic.twitter.com/NFzmubLQwa
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 23, 2022
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The match eventually went down to the wire. India needed nine of the last six deliveries. Interestingly, Rishabh Pant was asked to wait and Dinesh Karthik was sent ahead. Daniel Sams marked his run-up for the final over.
The onus was on Rohit Sharma to finish the innings, but Karthik came out of the syllabus. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter smashed a six and a four to seal the victory for India. In a post-match press conference, Dinesh Karthik took a cheeky dig at the Australian all-rounder, Daniel Sams.
“Never an easy game. There wasn’t too much chat with Rohit. I executed it on the given day. Sams would be upset if you call him left-arm spinner,” Karthik said.
He further added that Rohit had a specific plan for him and he was glad he could execute it well. Dinesh Karthik added:
“Rohit was trying to tell me this is what the bowler would do and I had my plans. As a middle order batter, it’s about execution and it feels good to hit the winning runs.”
“He is playing that role anyway for us” – Rohit Sharma on Dinesh Karthik
Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, revealed that it was his idea to let Dinesh Karthik come ahead of Pant as he is good against off-cutters.
“Glad DK could finish well. Been a while since he had some time in the middle. There was this thought if we should get Rishabh in but I thought Sams is going to bowl off-cutters, so I thought let DK come in and he is playing that role anyway for us,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
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