Dinesh Karthik the finisher came to Team India's rescue as the Men in Blue levelled the T20I series 1-1 courtesy of some late heroics from the veteran batter. The hosts needed 9 runs in the final over and DK himself smacked a huge maximum as well as a boundary to clinch the contest.
In recent matches, the 37-year-old has failed to impress, but he was on song against Australia in Nagpur. Facing Daniel Sams in the final over, Karthik dispatched a full-length delivery towards fine leg in the very first ball of the over to put all the pressure on the bowler.
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He then played a pulled shot and collected a boundary to finish the job for India as they won the match by six wickets.
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Speaking during the post-match presentation, skipper Rohit Sharma shed light that he was initially confused about whether to go with DK or Rishabh Pant when Hardik Pandya was dismissed, but he opted to go with the experience of Karthik who justified his role as a finisher.
Rohit, speaking to Harsha Bhogle after the match said, "There was a thought process of sending Pant but we wanted DK to do this role as he is going to be the finisher."
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All the attention now switches to the third and final T20I of the series, which will be played in Hyderabad on September 25.
