Naman also spoke about his conversation with captain Shreyas Iyer during the record chase.
New Zealand had posted 225/4 thanks to 82* by Glenn Phillips and 45 by Finn Allen. India’s chase was shouldered by Sanju Samson’s 67 and contributed by Shreyas Iyer (42) and Axar Patel (24). Despite this, India needed a fiery 15-ball 42* by Naman Dhir to chase down 225 with 4 wickets in hand.
Naman Dhir talked about his conversations with captain Shreyas Iyer regarding avoiding overcomplication and playing proper cricketing shots when the team found itself in a bit of trouble in the chase.
"Winning a game for India is obviously a proud feeling, and especially since I am still young and new to the team, so it is very satisfying. And Gautam sir also talked about it in the dressing room: if you set the tone right from the beginning, it helps you further along. So, I guess it is a very good win for all of us,” Naman Dhir said in a video shared by BCCI.
Naman said that New Zealand was colder than India, and he feels that he has been striking the ball very well.
"I just wanted to continue on the pitch. And I guess T20 games, white-ball, are situational. There the situation was different (in the rain-curtailed T20I against the West Indies at home, where he smacked a quickfire 24*); there you could go and hit a six right away, but here it was a bit different. So, I was trying to adapt my game accordingly," he said.
On conversations with Shreyas, he further added that they were just "two good cricketing shots" from ending things.
"Actually, at that time we discussed that if we hit two good shots, just proper cricketing shots, two boundaries, then the game would end right there. And yeah, we got those two crucial fours. There was not really anything to overcomplicate; we just needed to hit two good cricketing shots at that point, nothing else," he said.
Naman also expressed gratitude to the Indian fans present for their support, describing it as a "great feeling."
"Wherever you go in any part of the world, there is no bigger blessing for us than that. I would say come to the next match as well, support us like this, and let us see even more blue here," he signed off.
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India and New Zealand will now clash in the second T20I of the five-match series on October 24 in Christchurch.
(ANI inputs)