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New Delhi, April 22: India cricketer Dinesh Karthik has revealed he was shocked when the team management asked him to bat above MS Dhoni in the ICC World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand.
The Tamil Nadu cricketer had batted at number seven in whichever games he played in the showpiece event prior to that match but was sent in to bat after top-three KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were all dismissed for 1 run each in the run chase of 240.
Talking to veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle for Cricbuzz, the senior cricketer said, "It came as a bit of a surprise because they had made it very clear that I would be batting at number seven. We had to send a rearguard action just to stem the flow of wickets. I was told to pad up and it all happened in a daze, in a hurry."
The right-handed batsman admitted that he wasn't expecting the top-three to perish so early in the innings and added that he was late to get into the middle as he was sitting in his shorts in the dressing room.
"I was just sitting in my shorts and I had to go up, get ready. Literally, I was late to get in, I wasn't expecting a wicket to fall. KL Rahul got out and I had to put on my pads. I went in in the third over and I don't know when I got out, and it doesn't matter, but I just stopped the wickets falling till Boult's spell was over. He was the main wrecker-in-chief and unluckily when it was time for me to move on, I got out to a brilliant catch by James Neesham," he added.
Karthik scored 25-ball 6 before Neesham caught a screamer. After his departure, Hardik Pandya (32) and Rishabh Pant (32) posted a 47-run stand for the fifth wicket before MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja took charge.
While Jadeja took on the offensive with his knock of 77 off 59 balls, Dhoni - who walked in to bat at number 7 - avoided risks. The duo stitched a partnership of 116 runs for the seventh wicket and almost pulled off a miraculous recovery for India before Jadeja was dismissed. Dhoni too departed in an unlucky fashion in the 49th over and India lost the game by 18 runs.
While talking about the 2007 World Cup triumph under Dhoni, Karthik said the Ranchi-cricketer was strategically the best captain of that tournament, though he was leading the team for the first time.
'Dhoni was strategically the best captain in 2007 WT20'
Talking about the journey in the inaugural T20 WC and Dhoni's leadership, Karthik said, "It felt like we were a bunch of kids without parents during the 2007 T20 World Cup. Dhoni was what 26 that time. To be a captain of India at the age of 26 is not easy. He was new to it as well."
"I always thought he was a born leader, through his presence and demeanour, and the way he went about things, you just got a feeling that he had a lot of innate leadership skills. He, kind of, settled into the role pretty well. I am sure he's surprised himself a lot of times. But he was strategically the best captain in the tournament, which helped India win the title," he added further.
