Team India have now registered two consecutive super over wins against New Zealand as they lead the five-match T20I series 4-0. However, it was the brilliance of Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur in the 20th over of the fourth and fifth game respectively which took the game in the super overs. The pace duo recently opened up on their plans in the final over which helped them defend the target.
Meanwhile, in the 3rd T20I against the Kiwis on Wednesday, Shami had to defend 9 runs in the final over, and he gave away 8 runs to push the match to a Super Over, where Rohit Sharma starred to pick up the win. On Friday in the penultimate game of the series, a similar turn of events took place as Shardul Thakur defended 7 runs to push the match to another Super Over, where Kohli’s side achieved the same result.
Divulging on the same in the latest episode of the Chahal TV, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur got candid on their plans in those tension situations where they held their nerves to stand up tall for their country.
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“I was planning to bowl good yorkers. I tried on the first ball, it slipped out of my hand, and it went for a six. I had nothing to lose afterwards. I was thinking how to get dot balls. I thought we have already lost, let’s try to bowl some bouncers. After Williamson got out, I thought that short ball will do the trick. With the scores tied, I had just one option on the last ball, to get a dot ball. So, I went with a yorker delivery and it paid off," Shami said to Chahal TV.
On the other hand, Shardul Thakur opened up on his knuckleball which helped him to secure the crucial wicket in the final over. Despite adding that he was under pressure, Thakur said that he had the belief till the last ball that the match can turn any time on their favour.
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“There was a lot of pressure. I was trying to get a wicket on the first ball. Mostly, a batsman tries to go for a four or six on the first ball to try and finish the match as early as possible. My idea was that I will give a slow ball to make them go for a big hit. The plan worked. When I was hit for a four on the second ball, then the pressure increased. But in crunch situations, you can get hit for a six or a four, so I did not lose hope. We saw how Shami bhai was hit for a six on the first ball, but then he defended 3 runs in 5 balls. So why can’t the same happen here. It can happen again,” he said.
“Speaking about knuckle balls, bachpan me hum ungli teda kar ke ghee nikalte the (we twisted our fingers to take out ghee as a kid), so that’s what I just did,” Thakur concluded.
The fifth and the final T20I of the series is on February 2 (Sunday) at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.
