After a series of poor performances, the Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was back among the runs in the fourth ODI against Australia at Mohali. He played a crucial knock of 143 off 115 balls – his highest ODI score – and stitched a 193-run stand with fellow opener Rohit Sharma.
Dhawan cleared all the doubts regarding his batting form ahead of the World Cup with his 16th ODI century, and first in 18 innings. When asked how he managed to make a comeback amidst people scrutinizing his form, Dhawan said: “I don’t read the newspapers, so I don’t know what’s happening in the world and what people are saying. I keep my composure because I know I perform best when I’m calm. There’s no point cribbing or being sad. As a batsman, I feel sad but I make sure to cut down the negative thoughts, accept reality and move on.”
Shikhar also acknowledged that the Indian team has failed to read the conditions twice in successive games of the ongoing ODI series.
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Australia leveled the five-match series 2-2 with a record chase of 359 in the fourth ODI and the senior opener, who hit a career-best 143, said that they didn’t apprehend that dew would be a factor, just like the other way round in the previous game. In the previous match in Ranchi, India had decided to chase a 320 plus score as they felt that dew would set in and it didn’t.
Dhawan elaborated, “We had expected dew would be a factor in the last game and it didn’t come and here, we didn’t expect dew in this game and it came very heavily. So of course, when you put such a total on the board, it’s always pressure for the other sides and not our bowlers and we were quite in control till 38th over. But then ball started coming so nicely and the (bounce) true that you could play any shot on that surface.”
The dew didn’t allow the deliveries from the spinners to grip the surface. The Indian opener gave rookie Ashton Turner a lot of credit for finishing an improbable chase.
Dhawan also came in support of young wicket-keeper who missed a couple of chances in the game, he said, “Like any other young bloke, you have to give him time too. I mean Dhoni Bhai has played so many games and for how many years. You simply can’t compare. Yes, had he affected the stumping, maybe the game could have changed but then it slipped quickly out of our hands and for that, dew played a big role. That’s what it was.”
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Shikhar further added, “Because of the dew, the ball was not gripping and of course he (Ashton Turner) played really a good knock and took the game away. But he couldn’t have played those shots had there been no dew. I would give credit to him (Turner) for playing with such composure and took the game away from us. All his shots were on the roof and yes, he played really well.”
