Riding on his impressive form, Shikhar Dhawan scored his sixth T20I half-century, his third in the last matches, to put India in a match-winning positing during the second T20I of the Nidahas Trophy against Bangladesh at Colombo.

Having a scored a career-best 90 against Sri Lanka in the previous match, Dhawan continued in the same fashion in this match as well. Opening the batting with Rohit Sharma, watching his partner being dismissed in the fourth over did not have much of an effect on him as he continued with the same approach.

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By the end of the powerplay, Dhawan had scored 20* (13). In which was more than just a cautious start, he had hit three boundaries as well. On the first two deliveries of the eighth over, Dhawan changed gears as he hit Taskin Ahmed for a six over fine leg and a four in between deep square leg and fine leg off consecutive balls.

Dhawan hit his second six of the match by pulling Mahmudullah over the mid-wicket boundary in the 13th over. In the following over, with a paddle sweep against Nazmul Islam, he brought up his half-century in 35 balls.

With India needing 17 runs in 20 balls to win the match, he got out in the 17th over to Taskin Ahmed. Dhawan ended up scoring 55 (43) with the help of five fours and two sixes. His innings played a vital role in India sealing the chase in the penultimate over. In Virat Kohli’s absence and Rohit Sharma’s lack of form, watching him play with such responsibility would have come as a great reprieve for the team management and the Indian fans.

Dhawan would be wanting to receive the same outcome in the upcoming matches for India is likely to need more from a senior batsman like him. His being steady at the top of the order gives a lot of assurance to the middle order.