I backed myself to hit a six after not taking that single, says Karthik

TIL Desk Sports/“I genuinely believed that I could hit a six,” Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik said as he reflected on refusing a single to non-striker Krunal Pandya in the series-deciding loss to New Zealand in the third T20 International.

On Sunday night at Hamilton, things did not go as per plan in the final over, in which India needed 16 runs, and the 33-year-old has no qualms in accepting that. Karthik refused a single to the big-hitting Krunal off the third ball of the over leading to some debate on whether he took the right decision.

“I think Krunal and I batted really well from that situation (145/6). We were able to bring the match down to a place where the bowlers were under pressure. We backed ourselves to do the job. And at that stage (after refusing the single), I genuinely believed that I could hit a six,” Karthik told.