India’s victorious skipper Rohit Sharma whilst praising the Sri Lankan fans for turning up in their numbers for the final of the Hero Nidahas trophy tri-nation series at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday said that their support didn’t make his team feel that they were playing outside India.
“The crowd was brilliant, it was magnificent. To get the support from the entire crowd, I think it was 20,000-25,000 people to get their support was really good. We didn't feel that we were playing outside India,” said Sharma at the post-match press conference after his team had beaten Bangladesh by five wickets to clinch a thrilling last ball victory.
“They (spectators) enjoyed their cricket which is always a good thing. They came out in large numbers and their support was very crucial. It is always good when you get that support, just to get you going, it is very important. They supported us throughout the course of 40 overs. Even when we were bowling and making those stops, and when we started off batting, they were there for us,” he said.
Sharma became very popular and earned more respect with the Sri Lankan fans for his humble post-victory act when he got his team to do a lap of honour with Sri Lanka’s legendary one-man cheer squad Percy Abeysekera.
Further after claiming an emphatic victory Sharma instead of waving the Indian tri-colour flag he took the Lankan flag from a fan and went on a lap of honour to acknowledge the local fans’ support.
Sharma praised the match-winning knock of Dinesh Karthik who hit the final ball for six off Soumya Sarkar after India were left chasing an improbable 34 runs off the final two overs. Karthik hit 22 runs off the penultimate over bowled by Rubel Hossain to make the impossible happen in the final over.
“When you have a situation like this, you can only be positive. You have to think that you can always get it. What we think in the dressing room doesn’t matter that much. Guys who are out there in the middle matter the most, because they are the ones out there taking the pressure and taking that challenge to finish off the games,” said Sharma.
“In the dressing room we were always positive. The reason we had Dinesh in the end is because we knew he could finish off the game for us. That was the only idea. We were all positive of the kinds of shots that he has in his hands. We always thought he could play those shots.
“When I got out I went and sat in the dugout and he was quite upset that he didn’t bat at six. But I told him: I want you to bat and finish off the game for us, because whatever skill you have, it will be required in the last three or four overs.
“He’s batted in that position in a list of games for his state teams. Even when he was playing for Mumbai Indians with me, I knew his ability with the bat. He’s got some different types of skill shots that would probably be required at that point at the death overs. That was the only reason we held him back. I can proudly say it paid off,” Sharma said.
India’s stand-in skipper commended Bangladesh for their ‘fearless’ cricket and described them as a ‘dangerous team’.
“Bangladesh is certainly a very good team. Definitely in this tournament they were a very dangerous team. We saw a few games when they chased more than 200 runs. They’re very fearless. They come out, express themselves, and they enjoy cricket,” said Sharma. “Going forward, in the last three years, we’ve seen how they’ve changed their style of cricket. The senior guys are there in the team and there are a few new faces. That’s always a good combination to have, when you have mixture of youth and experience, you always get the result you want.
“I won't say they are not good enough. Bangladesh certainly has great talent in the squad. Even today (Sunday), it was a close finish, it wasn't that we came out here and smashed and won the game. We had to earn that victory and it is a good sign for their cricket. They shouldn't be disappointed; they have a long way to go.
“At the start of the tournament, they played some really good cricket and the two games they won against Sri Lanka was there for all of us to see, you know what kind of players they have and what sort of cricket they play. They play fearless cricket, it's always good. Sometimes, it can bite you when things don't go your way but that is the style of cricket they want to play,” said Sharma.
Bangladesh were left wondering of what might have been after coming so close to lifting a trophy. They have now lost five tournament finals in the limited-over formats including a similar tight last over defeat against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup final where they failed to make nine runs off the last over.
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