Despite India’s loss against Bangladesh in the second ODI at Sher-e-Bangla stadium, Rohit Sharma has emerged as a hero. The Indian captain braved a broken thump to come in the dying embers of the game and try to salvage a win for the team.
In just 28 balls Sharma played a blinder of an innings and made 51 runs. Despite excruciating pain in the thumb, Rohit smalled 3 fours and five sixes to bring India to a touching distance of a victory. The Men in Blue however failed to get the win and as a result, lost the series 0-2 against their neighbours.
India’s wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik however has acknowledged Rohit’s contribution to the team. He has also credited Shreyas Iyer with a great fightback from India. Iyer made 82 off 102 balls and held the fort from one end as India continued to lose wickets from the other.
Speaking to Cricbuzz after Bangladesh’s famous win over India in the 2nd ODI, Karthik said, “I think the way he has played for a period of time has been phenomenal. He has scored 700-plus runs just this year and you can see the confidence. One Day International cricket is something right up his alley, he likes the fact that he can take a few balls and then start launching. Terrific player of spin and the fact that these days every time he walks in, they test him with short balls and he is coming good, almost every game,” Karthik said.
Talking more about the in-form Indian batter, Karthik opined that Iyer needs to consistently finish games for the Asian giants like run-machine Kohli. “Yes, he had the odd failure which could be due to a short ball but every time he crosses that you can see he is a man on a mission and he wants to be there for the team at the end. He looked good in this knock, he dominated right through the time he was batting. Yes, wickets fell around him but he didn’t give up and I really like that about him. He almost took India to a place where – I think it was safe but if you want to make your name as a player, you want to make a name like what Virat Kohli has done over the years, these are the games that you wanna be 120-130 not out, that is a big difference,” Karthik added.
You want to stay not out- Karthik
An on-song Iyer managed to overtake Shikhar Dhawan by becoming Team India’s leading ODI run-getter in 2022. The white-ball maverick has smashed over 720 runs in 16 matches for India this year. “You want to stay not out in the chases and be the guy who takes the country home. That is something he would genuinely miss today. Scoring 82 looks good, and feels good, but it is only when you cross the line – being a middle-order batter and winning such games. When you start doing consistently, you get the feeling that teams fear you,” Karthik concluded.
