Someone very wisely once said that, ‘Someone’s Misery is Someone’s Gain.’ This quote has been proved true in the case of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan. Murali Vijay’s injury has come as a blessing in disguise for Shikhar Dhawan.
Shikhar Dhawan has been on a fantastic run off late, starting from the Champion’s trophy and is in no mood to stop. Dhawan scored two centuries in the three-match Test series and then continued his form in the one-day series by scoring another century in the first ODI. Dhawan scored 139 off 90 deliveries and won the man of the match award in the first one day international.
Dhawan in the post-match press conference said that he doesn’t really think about losing his form and believes in keeping it simple as he has learnt a lot from failures.
He said:
“Failure teaches you a lot and I am lucky I have learnt so much out of that.”
Dhawan is enjoying a purple patch in form said he doesn’t really worry about a slump in the form:
“I have already had a slump so I don’t think about it. When it has to come it will come. I embrace that period of slump also. When I was not doing well I was just focusing on my processes. And when I am doing well, I am still focusing on my processes. So those things don’t bother me that much.”
Dhawan thinks he should keep performing well in order to retain his place in the team as there’s a lot of talent in the Indian dressing room.
He said:
“It’s a long time (until the next World Cup). I would like to keep performing well. That would be my goal because if I don’t perform there are such great batsmen in our side that anyone can take the place, so that’s one thing. The second thing is I would like to keep my fitness on a high level because all the young boys are there. I like to keep myself fit at the pace of the game. Apart from that I don’t really too many goals that I have to score these many runs. I just focus on my process including my fitness, skills and fielding.”
This form of his is similar to the form he was enjoying in 2013 and he feels the same:
“When I made a comeback in the ODI side in the 2013 Champions Trophy, I was batting this fluently. Even this time in the Champions Trophy (2017), I was playing in that flow. I would say that I even played like this in my debut Test match against Australia, or like I played in Galle in the first Test here. I am playing quite similarly to those times. I am trying to keep repeating the same mantra for myself.”
Talking about the current Sri Lankan team he did not want to sound too rude and encouraged the opposition by saying,
“This is a young Sri Lankan side and they are in transition period where all the boys will mature. In international cricket you need to have that experience. The young boys are good but with time they will get better. Malinga has been a legend for Sri Lankan cricket and he has done great in international cricket in all formats. He is a bit old now and with time I feel that his pace has gone down a bit. That’s why we can attack more as batsmen and that’s what we look at. This is natural because he has played so much cricket. It’s just a cycle, life cycle, that’s what I feel, I don’t use those harsh words. I won’t say they are the worst bowling attack I have faced. The left arm bowler (Vishwa Fernando) bowls decent pace. They have a good fast bowling attack. In Champions Trophy, they even beat us. It’s just that we have got a mature side, very experienced side so that plays a huge role because how you handle pressure situations that matters a lot with experience. So I feel that with time Sri Lankan team will do well.”