JOIN USRohit hails Sundar as 'magical'
Dinesh Karthik may have stolen the show at the Nidahas Trophy with a stunning late assault in the final but his Tamil Nadu team-mate Washington Sundar made a strong case with consistent performances.
In fact Sundar finished as the tournament's highest wicket-taker along with Yuzvendra Chahal with the spinners grabbing eight wickets apiece. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma lavished praise on all-rounder Sundar.
"I think throughout the series Sundar's bowling has been magical for us. What he has done with the new ball is quite incredible, I would say. Not anyone can just take the pressure of bowling within the Powerplay. Not to forget he also got wickets at the same time. He didn't allow any of the opposition to score runs really in the Powerplay," Rohit said at the post match press conference on Sunday.
"The skill set that he has - he's quite courageous to do what he wants to do in the middle. It's not just one or two games. He consistently bowled in the Powerplay, and always kept us in the games. We identified him as one of the promising talents who can play for the national team for many years. This tournament will give him a lot of confidence."
Rohit said the young team showed character and executed the plans perfectly.
"Great tournament for us. Everybody who played, they showed lots of character. These games are not easy and these guys have not played a lot for the national team. And this performance will give them a lot of confidence. Some of them went for runs, but they will learn from it," he said.
Sundar, who was adjudged the Man of the Series, said it was challenging to bowl in the Powerplay.
"It means a lot, especially such an award at such a young age. It's a challenging role (bowling in Powerplay) but when playing for your country, it's just an honour," he said.
"I've always wanted to read the batsmen's mind and that's what I have been trying to do. I really wanted to be there when we win the game and I think Dinesh bhai played really well and it turned out to be a memorable series for me."
Though disappointed to end up on the losing side, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan praised his team for playing well throughout the series and credited India for showing better nerves under pressure to pull off the narrow win in the final.
"You can't ask for more in a final like this. I thought we played superbly, anybody could have won the game, but India held their nerves well," he said.
"We wanted to bowl our best bowler in the 18th and 19th. But even if Rubel had gone for 15 an over, we could have handled it. He didn't miss his length too much but credit to Dinesh Karthik to just come out and hit sixes from his first ball.
"We knew 166 would be tough to defend, we had a good feeling though, everyone did their best, gave their 100 per cent. It hurts to lose, but we played well. We can still take lots of positives from here and someday we can be on the winning side."
PTI