Online Sports Desk
Naman Dhir introduced himself to the world despite the fifth T20I between India and West Indies ending in a washout at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday (October 17) as the two teams ended the series by sharing the trophy with a 2-2 draw. Only 7.4 overs were possible in the series decider after multiple rain breaks.
After the game was reduced to a nine-over-per-side match, West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first. Naman walked out to bat in the 7th over after Shreyas Iyer’s dismissal and made an unbeaten knock of 24 runs in just six balls, which included three sixes and a boundary, at a stunning strike rate of 400, before the ground showed another spell of showers, which led to the game being abandoned.
Naman’s knock has the best strike rate by an Indian batter who has played more than two balls in an innings. Only Dinesh Karthik (10 off 2 balls at 500 SR vs Australia in 2022 at Nagpur) scored at a better rate in an innings in the shortest format of the game after playing more than one ball.
Meanwhile, among players who batted at least five balls in an innings, Naman is the first to end with a strike rate of 400 for India. The record was previously shared by Yuvraj Singh, who set it against England in the 2007 T20 World Cup during his famous knock in which he hit six sixes in an over to Stuart Broad. Meanwhile, Karthik equalled it later during the epic knock against Bangladesh in the 2018 Nidahas Cup final.
In fact, Naman is the second player from a Test-playing nation to face at least six balls in a T20I innings and end his knock with a strike rate of 400 after Harry Brook. The England star registered a strike rate of 442.8 against the West Indies in 2023 at St. George with an unbeaten 7-ball 31.
