Shikhar Dhawan believes that every lean period in his career has made him “stronger”, but it is his clarity and composure that has enabled him to get through difficult times. The oldest player in the Indian ODI lineup, there was a lot of talk about Dhawan’s poor form in domestic cricket but as it was with the 36-year-old, he was back with a bang in his favorite blue top-topped shirt – score of 79 from 84 balls, albeit in a losing case in the first ODI against South Africa.
“I don’t listen to the media or read newspapers or watch news, that way I don’t absorb all that information,” Dhawan said when asked how he keeps himself away from negativity.
For him, neither the bad patch has hit him for the first time nor will it be the last, but one must have the confidence in his abilities.
“I have full confidence in myself that what my game is and I have clarity about that and I stay pretty calm. And this is part of life, this happens in life, everyone’s life has ups and downs, so it’s nothing new and happenings for the first time or for the last time in my career or my life, so it’s good, that just makes me stronger,” Dhawan said.
Dhawan came into the series on the back of a poor run of Hazzare Trophy scores — 0, 12, 14, 18, 12 in five List A games.
But if you look closely at Dhawan’s career, just when there have been calls to drop him, he has invariably responded with a big knock like he did in the first ODI, where he looked like the best hitter in his side.
“These conversations (to drop him) are always there and I’m used to them and I just know how to do my best and I always make sure my preparation is pretty good and the process is right and then I let it go.” left to God.
“…and I know that with my experience and my confidence I will do well and I’m glad I did well today,” the flamboyant opener joked.
His aim is to stay fit and healthy for the latter part of his career.
“With my experience I will continue to score a lot of runs and yes, until the time I keep playing cricket I will stay healthy and happy and score a lot of runs,” he said knowing full well that he is reaching the business end of his career.
Not an easy wicket to play shots in middle overs
Dhawan’s assessment of his team’s 31-run defeat to South Africa struggled to tick the scoreboard in the middle overs as the field slowed down.
“We had a good start and I feel like the wicket was slow, it also offered a little corner. So if you’re chasing (about) 300 runs, when the middle order comes to bat, it’s not easy to play shots.
“Our wickets came in a bunch and that had an impact on us as a batting unit,” Dhawan reasoned.
Dhawan also praised South African duo Temba Bavuma (110 out of 143) and Rassie van der Dussen (129 out of 96) for their well-crafted hundreds that set the stage for a convincing win.
Asked about the turning point of the game, he said, “I feel like both the South African batsmen batted pretty well and they took the innings pretty deep.”
Younger batters must shape the game according to the requirements
Dhawan believes that dealing with varied match situations comes with experience and people like Rishabh Pabt, the two Iyers — Shreyas and Venkatesh will understand better the more games they play.
“This (discussion) we have that game according to the situation and what the situation requires, keep the team first and an individual’s game is important.
“…..but at the same time be practical, how can you shape your game so that when a partnership is needed, it’s necessary, all those things and I feel these are refined with experience and time,” noted the Delhi -seizure.
The left-hander was again asked how the mid-order issues could be resolved, to which he said: “See our thinking process as a unit or a team is that we are building our team for the 2023 World Cup so there will be few issues here and there, That’s fine and we are analyzing as a team how we can get better.”
Rohit’s absence is a factor
Dhawan believes that if regular white ball captain Rohit Sharma is back in the mix, the team will be stronger and the middle class will also play better cricket.
promoted
“And I feel like we all have a good clarity now that we have this group group and they’re going to be there and how they can be refined.
“Now that Rohit (Sharma) is not there, once he comes back, an experienced player will come in and the middle class (Rahul will go down) will get stronger. So the youngsters who get a chance will win from this experience. We look at a bigger picture,” he said.
Topics mentioned in this article
