Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik also opined that skipper Rohit Sharma has gained massive respect as a leader for batting in injury. Virat Kohli-starrer Team India was upstaged by Bangladesh in the 2nd ODI by 5 runs on Wednesday.
Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer staged India’s remarkable comeback with their batting heroics although Bangladesh dashed the hopes of the visitors by clinching the final-over thriller at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday. Braving an unfortunate thumb injury in the series decider, veteran Indian skipper Rohit Sharma played a blinder of a knock against Bangladesh. Showering praise on the Indian skipper, senior gloveman Dinesh Karthik opined that Rohit has gained massive respect as a leader for batting in injury.
The senior Indian batter also reflected on Iyer’s scintillating knock against the Litton Das-led side in the 2nd ODI at Dhaka. Before Rohit batted at the number nine position and rescued India from a precarious situation, it was Iyer’s lone warrior act that kept the visitors in the hunt at Dhaka. The premier batter slammed a match-altering half-century for the Virat Kohli-starrer side in the recently concluded encounter. Top-scoring for India in the series decider, Iyer played a gritty knock of 82 off 97 balls.
Speaking to Cricbuzz after Bangladesh’s famous win over India in the 2nd ODI, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Karthik acknowledged Iyer as India’s most consistent run-getter in the 50-over format this year. “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.
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 the get the feeling that teams fear you,” Karthik concluded.
