Team India became the Nidahas Trophy 2018 winners thanks an amazing contribution from captain Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik in the finals against a formidable Bangladesh team.
India had rested majority of their main players after a grueling tour of South Africa and handed the reins to Rohit Sharma. The team was filled with fringe players and new comers like Mohd Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and KL Rahul.
India lost the first match against Sri Lanka, but was brutal against the opposition after that, qualifying for the finals without losing a match thereafter. The finals saw India and Bangladesh clash, in a match that actually went down to the wire.
The difference between Bangladesh losing and winning the match was Shakib’s decision to give Soumya Sarkar the last over, after Rubel went for 22 runs in the penultimate over. Sarkar did well to bring the occasion down to an almost impossible 5 runs off the last ball.
But Dinesh Karthik was at the strike and after scoring 22 runs off Rubel, got a wide, length ball and deposited it over the cover boundary for a six to win the match and break millions of Bangladeshi hearts.
Even the Man of the Match was thrilled with his performance and tweeted that it was one of his best nights.
Probably one of the best nights of my life. Nothing comes close to crossing the finish line for… https://t.co/lmy5k4DrMi
— DK (@DineshKarthik) March 19, 2018
The Indian team was ecstatic after the win and took to Twitter to show their jubilation.
Here are some tweets:
What a game! What a final! What a player! @DineshKarthik you beauty! That was a great shot under pressure to finish things off! Hats off???????????????????????????????????? #INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/fxPH8OPRPJ
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) March 18, 2018
No game is over till the fat lady sings. DK, you beauty! @DineshKarthik #INDvBAN #NidahasTrophy2018 #TeamIndia ???????? ???? pic.twitter.com/yKHMaIfc7p
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) March 18, 2018
Champions ???????????????? @BCCI pic.twitter.com/UVNxnkcUVj
— Rishabh Pant (@RishabPant777) March 18, 2018
Great to add another trophy to the cabinet ! Well played @DineshKarthik for a scintillating innings under pressure ✌️ #TeamIndia @BCCI pic.twitter.com/ttdmQ0VV9h
— Akshar patel (@akshar2026) March 19, 2018
In the nets and on the field,
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) March 18, 2018
we work hard and together we build!
Congratulations team, super proud!
Fantastic innings @ImRo45 & @DineshKarthik. Kudos guys ????#OneTeam #NidahasTrophy2018Final #INDvBAN @BCCI pic.twitter.com/VNOnOLGXbH
Incredible end to what had been such a great season. What a way to pull off a victory. Magnificent from the entire unit ???????? ???????? @BCCI
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) March 18, 2018