Indian batsmen were clueless against the moving ball of late but opener Shikhar Dhawan clarified that they have learned from the mistakes made in Dharamsala and Kolkata.
The ordinary performance in pace-friendly pitches has raised question marks ahead of the South Africa tour beginning next month when India go into the three-match Test series without playing a single warm-up game.
Ahead of the third and the final ODI against Sri Lanka in Vizag, Shikhar said, “We have learnt a lot of things. Especially when we played in Kolkata (during the first Test against SL) and in Dharamsala (first ODI). It was seaming and it was a damp wicket but we still went in with a positive intent and gave our best and of course, it didn’t go our way but we all learned from it. It’s good sometimes when you fall, you learn a lot of things out of it.”
India bounced pretty hard on the Islanders as they leveled the series in Mohali courtesy a third double century from the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma. Talking about the same, Dhawan said, “The way we came back in the next game, in Mohali we felt that it was a damp wicket at the start but it wasn’t. Still, the ball wasn’t coming on that well when we were batting at the start. We took the pressure nicely and changed the game after ten overs. As I said, it’s always a learning curve, we are learning and we are going to get better from here.”
The southpaw also showered praises for his opening partner Rohit, he said, “He has only been captain for two matches but I’ve known Rohit for a long time and I know what his character is like. He is a very chilled out captain and tells us to keep the basics right, we all know our roles, we just have to give our best and hats off to him for the way he performed in the last game. Very happy about it.”
At the same time, Dhawan expects the Sri Lankans to be better prepared after their loss in Mohali, he said, “When you attack the opposition and the players we are, the caliber we have got once we are in. Once I am in, I can demolish any side because that is my strength. And even Rohit, once he gets settled, he scores big. Of course any opposition can have plans when they lose, they will learn out of it and will come out with a better mindset, we know about it, we will be aware of it because we know they will come out with strong plans for us.”
Shikhar concluded by expressed that he loves Visakhapatnam, having done well in the Deodhar Trophy to fight his way back into the national squad. He said, “I’ve always loved coming back to Vizag. Very beautiful city, very clean city and of course the property in which we are living, it has the sea in front of us, it’s beautiful. And of course I did well in the Deodhar Trophy as you said and after that, there was a drastic change in my career. As they say, Vizag is a city of destiny isn’t it? It has been good for me and I always enjoy coming here.”
