India vs Bangladesh, Nidahas Trophy Final: When Dinesh Karthik hit the winning six, Rohit Sharma was padding up for Super Over

Photo: ICC Twitter

When India needed five runs off the final ball to beat Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final on Sunday in Colombo, Rohit Sharma was not present in India's dug-out. The skipper had walked back into the dressing room to pad up for the Super Over. But Karthik's winning six ensured it wasn't required. 

Chasing 167 to win, India needed 34 off the last 12 balls when Karthik walked in to join a struggling Vijay Shankar, and the experienced wicketkeeper-batsman decided to take the game by the scruff of its neck with an 8-ball 29 not out. 

"I had walked back in the dressing room to wear my pads," Rohit said after India's win. "Very happy to see Dinesh doing what he did. He didn't get much game time until now, but he showed his power."

However, there was a lot of uproar on social media when Shankar was sent ahead of Karthik, and it almost cost India the match. Rohit explained the reason behind the move.

"We held him back because of his finishing ability and his experience, and it paid off. I always had a lot of faith in our batting group and we were confident after keeping them to a par score," Rohit said.

The skipper himself made a telling contribution in India's victory by scoring 56, his 14th half-century in T20Is. 

But the fall of Rohit's wicket in the 14th over had a major impact on India's scoring rate, with Shankar and Manish Pandey struggling to find boundaries; and it allowed the asking rate to climb up. 

Karthik, though, had other ideas and finished the game in an 8-ball blitz that read 6-4-6-0-2-4-1-6.