Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan smacked a match-winning 92 off 49 balls against Punjab Kings on Sunday and he said he made effort to improve his strike rate. Dhawan, who hit consecutive centuries in the IPL last season, has found his place uncertain in India’s T20 International playing XI and he has been facing competition for an opening slot along with Rohit Sharma and others as well.
“It was a conscious effort from my side. I knew I have to improve on that (strike rate). Started taking more risks. Not afraid of changes, always open towards it. Not scared of getting out as well,” said Shikhar Dhawan, who has batted at a strike rate of 187.86, after their six-wicket win over Punjab Kings.
The left-handed batsman also said that he has also been working on his stroke play that too consciously.
“I have worked on a few shots. My slog shot has improved a lot. It was there earlier as well, but now I play it more freely. I’m more relaxed, having played for so many years. I don’t take things for granted,” Shikhar Dhawan added.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant said that he has started to enjoy captaincy. Notably, he has replaced Shreyas Iyer this season who has been ruled out of the season owing to his shoulder injury.
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“Coming from a loss, winning the next match was important. Have already started enjoying captaincy. But we were under pressure at the start, the wicket was not doing much. Bowlers did a good job keeping them to 195. He (Dhawan) has a lot of experience. You can to talk to him about anything, how we can set the field, there are many stuff you can talk about. End of the day, what he’s giving to the team is commendable,” Pant revealed.
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul said that they post a decent total in 20 overs but defending that at Wankhede becomes tough as well.
“Right now it looks 10-15 runs short, but I think 190-odd looked good. Me and Mayank thought 180-190 would have been great on this wicket. Shikhar batted well, so congratulations to them. When we come to Wankhede, bowling second is always a challenge. We prepare for such conditions. It does get difficult against these quality batters. I’m not saying that because I’m on the losing side,” he said.
“Bowlers try to bowl with the wet ball, but it’s always difficult to do that. I asked the umpires to change the ball a couple of times (as it was wet), but the rule book doesn’t allow that,” Rahul concluded.
