Mumbai, May 30 (UNI) Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik, who helped India win the historic Nidahas Trophy final against Bangladesh in 2018, has said that he was waiting for that moment throughout his career to prove himself.
India were struggling at 133 for 5 after 18 overs while chasing 167 for victory when Dinesh Karthik walked in at No 7, two slots below his normal batting position as captain Rohit Sharma held him back for the final stages of the game, with the team needing 34 off 12 balls to win.
The decision proved to be a masterstroke from Rohit as Karthik played a breathtaking innings, smashing 29 off 8 deliveries including 3 sixes and a couple of boundaries to help India snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo.
"I was waiting for such a moment like that to prove myself. I had been practicing a lot to face a chance like this. When the real situation came to go through that I think it is fun at that stage, ' Karthik said on Star Sports 1's Tamil show Mind Masters by MFORE.
"Lots of it happen in an auto mode. As you practice a lot and when you are at that stage you know what you need to do. I had belief that we would win that match, it was 2 overs 34 runs to win, and I still thought that I could win this game for the team,' he added.
Kartik, who has been around in international cricket for nearly 16 years now, also spoke about the importance of mental toughness, especially for professional athletes who have to go through lot of ups and downs in their careers.
"To sum up mental toughness, it’s the ability to stay in the present consistently.So that whenever you face tough situations, you will get lots of random thoughts but most importantly if you can focus on what you need to do right now and consistently get that right, more often than not you will be victorious,' Karthik said.
'All successful players have gained that strength over a period of time," he added.
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