IND vs NZ 2017: Shikhar Dhawan Credited Bowlers for Doing the Half Job

Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a crucial half-century to help his team win the 2nd ODI and level the three-match series 1-1 credited the bowlers for putting up a good show and restricting the Kiwis to a modest total of 230 runs.

The men in blue were under tremendous pressure losing the first match but came back strongly to register a six-wicket win, courtesy some good knocks from Dinesh Karthik and Shikhar Dhawan. The series decider is slated to get played in Kanpur on October 29th.

“There was no seam movement when India bowled, and the Indian bowlers bowled very tight lines and did the job for us. We played their pacers better than they played our pacers,” an elated Dhawan after the match.

He further mentioned that chasing a total of 230 runs is comparatively much more comfortable than chasing a total of 300 runs; therefore the bowlers did the half job for us, and the fielders well supported them.

The southpaw showered heaps of praise on yesterday’s man of the match, Bhuvneshwar Kumar who is in good rhythm giving early breakthroughs and bowling other variations at the death overs. The swashbuckling opener admitted he has raised the bar for himself and has mastered variations like slower deliveries and knuckleballs bowling it at right areas.

Dhawan said,

“Even when he is bowling a slower ball or a knuckle ball, he makes sure he is pitching in the right areas. Even when he comes in the death overs, he is the best bowler in the world, the way he bowls yorkers. I have seen him in IPL and for India and he has been doing it consistently. He has got a lot of belief in himself and that is just showing out there.”

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Notably, Kumar bamboozled Colin Munro with the perfect knuckleball that left the batsman guessing as it went through his defence. The pacer from Uttar Pradesh has been bowling well on a consistent basis right from the Indian Premier League and has got a lot of self-belief which is showing out there. Talking about Dinesh Karthik, who got promoted to the no four spot, Dhawan said,

“About Dinesh, I will say that he has worked hard and scored so many runs in domestic (cricket) that he is being rewarded for that and has made a place in the team again. He is one of the best middle order players, with the skills and shots he has and he is proving himself.”

Karthik had scored tons of runs for his domestic side Tamil Nadu and was waiting for an opportunity which he grabbed with both hands scoring an unbeaten knock of 64 runs taking his team over the rope.

Dhawan also credited Hardik Pandya, who was sent ahead of Dhoni to take the game away from the opposition prove the decision of the team management right. Talking about New Zealand’s decision to bat first,

“I was a bit surprised with their decision to bat first because there could be dew in the evening usually during this time. When we were batting we thought it slowed down a bit; the ball wasn’t coming that nicely the way it should come,” Dhawan concluded.