Recalling the final of the Nidahas Trophy, Dinesh Karthik revealed that he was 'waiting' for such an opportunity.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik's incredible knock in the final of the Nidahas Trophy has gained a cult status over time. Karthik remained unbeaten on 29 off just 8 deliveries to secure India a memorable win in the final.
India needed five runs off the last delivery in the final, and Karthik famously slammed a six off Soumya Sarkar's delivery to lead India to victory.
Recalling the moment, Karthik revealed that he was 'waiting' for such an opportunity.
"I was waiting for such a moment like that to prove myself. I had been practising a lot to face a chance like this. When the real situation came to go through that I think it is fun at that stage. Lots of it happen in an auto mode," Karthik said.
"As you practice a lot and when you are at that stage you know what you need to do. I had belief that we would win that match, it was 2 overs 34 runs to win, and I still thought that I could win this game for the team."
Both Karthik and his wife Dipika Pallikal have faced tough situations in their careers, Karthik with a career spanning over 17 years has been on & off the Indian side while Dipika had to go through the heartbreak of missing the 2010 Commonwealth Games only to make a dream return in the 2014 Glasgow Games. (ALSO READ: Uthappa names player who could be India's next Dhoni)
Karthik while shedding light on mental toughness said: "To sum up mental toughness, it's the ability to stay in the present consistently. So that whenever you face tough situations, you will get lots of random thoughts but most importantly if you can focus on what you need to do right now and consistently get that right, more often than not you will be victorious. All successful players have gained that strength over a period of time."
Dipika on the need for mental conditioning said: "I got to world number 20 very fast and I was stuck there for a long time and at that point I didn't believe in a mental coach but to get to world number 10 you have to do a lot of different things, not just run on the tracks, not just follow fitness programs, not just play squash.
"I think a lot of outside things have to be implemented in your game and the reason why I got from 20 to 10 in the world was definitely just because of the mental skills training that I did. And a lot of athletes have not explored that area because I don't think it's a very big topic in India as such. I think when you train your mind at a very young age you do get result at a very young age as well."
(With inputs from IANS)
