Recently, India’s tour of New Zealand concluded with a 2-1 victory for the hosts in the T20I. The final was also the series decider as the scoreline was leveled at the 1-1 draw and the hosts sealed it from there. Following a no-show by India’s otherwise reliable batsmen, the loss sparked a debate – if Dinesh Karthik should have taken a single to hand the strike to Krunal Pandya. Karthik received flak for not letting Krunal take the strike in the third delivery of the final over on the 3rd T20I.

Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta has weighed-in on the topic, defending Karthik for not taking a single and going with his instincts. However, former Indian opener, Aakash Chopra termed the incident of the game as a ‘brain-fade moment’ by Karthik.

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Taking to his official social media handle, Dasgupta tweeted, “That’s his job now, to finish games. I would have been upset had he taken the single. That would be shirking his responsibility, glad he didn’t. You win some and you lose some but the attitude is what matters.”

That's his job now, to finish games . I would have been upset had he taken the single. That would be shirking his responsibility, glad he didn't. You win some and you lose some but attitude is what matters. https://t.co/W5NH7UCcjY

— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) February 14, 2019

Replying to the same Chopra said that Krunal was not given the strike despite the fact that he was cleaning the ball cleanly till then. Adding that he doesn’t know whether the result of the match would have got affected or not but ‘that’ run should have been taken.

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Chopra’s tweet read: “Really? Considering how cleanly Krunal was striking at the other end? Then why take a single off the following ball?? That was a bit of a brain-fade moment in my humble opinion, mate. Not that it would’ve changed the outcome but ‘that’ single should’ve been taken”.

Really? Got one run off two balls himself…expecting Krunal to hit two sixes to tie the game. That’s faith of a different level. But the same faith should’ve ensured not denying a single.

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 14, 2019

However, the game witnessed a nail-biting finish as New Zealand maintain their perfect record at home and denied India a historical series win in T20Is. Team India failed to chase down a 200 plus total in New Zealand and resulting in a T20I series loss 1-2. Chasing a target of 213 to win the decider in Hamilton, India managed 208 thanks to a spirited bowling effort from New Zealand. The Indian team registered a historic Test and ODI bilateral series win in Australia before recording their biggest ODI series win on New Zealand soil.