K. Gowtham did not wake up feeling in the best of health on Tuesday morning. He had been laid low by an upset stomach and a fever the evening before when he did not take the field at all.
He was on a predominantly liquid diet on the fourth and final day of his side's Ranji Trophy encounter against Railways but he decided he had to be out there. Karnataka will be grateful he did.
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"I believe in one thing. Whenever the team requires my services, I am always up for it," he said after his six for 30 had led Karnataka to victory at the KSCA Navule Stadium. "I don't play for personal milestones; if I play for the team, it will help my career as well."
Karnataka had not given up hope of victory, Gowtham stated, even if only three wickets had fallen as the tea break loomed. "We never had any doubt about it," he said.
Team over personal milestones
"We always knew we had to get a couple of wickets. We missed a couple of chances but the way we bounced back after tea was really good. I guess someone had something in the dressing room during the break."
Gowtham's final spell read 14-5-20-5. "Today, it was flat for a session and a half and then it started turning a little," he said.
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"We had to get six points to stay in contention for the quarterfinals and we did that. We've had two thrilling outright wins on this ground. This is a lucky one for us. This ground makes us toil and work hard but we win in the end."
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