India’s limited-overs opener Shikhar Dhawan has revealed the secret behind his success in the major ICC tournaments. The southpaw has been a consistent performer in the big events and his penchant for the big matches is well known. Dhawan was the golden bat winner of the 2013 Champions Trophy as he scored 363 runs in five matches at 90.75 and the love affair started from there.
Subsequently, Dhawan scored 412 runs in eight matches of the 2015 World Cup at an average of 51.12. The left-hander was the highest run-getter of the Champions Trophy 2017 as he scored 338 runs in five matches at an average of 67.60.
Shikhar Dhawan has a love affair with World Cups
The Delhi batsman was once again at his best in the 2019 World Cup and scored a match-winning knock of 117 runs against Australia. However, he suffered a thumb injury in the same match and thus he was ruled out of the entire tournament.
Meanwhile, Dhawan has revealed that his mindset remains the same for the matches of the ICC tournament. The Indian opener added that he thinks as if he is playing any other bilateral series and hence he doesn’t take any kind of extra pressure on his shoulders.
“I take ICC tournaments exactly the same way. I think the wickets are better in these tournaments, so it suits my batting style. My focus, or process remains the same for any bilateral series,” Dhawan said while talking to Jemimah Rodrigues and Smirti Mandhana on their show Double Trouble.
On the other hand, Dhawan admitted that he felt some pressure while playing against arch-rivals Pakistan as the atmosphere was electric. Dhawan scored a fine knock of 73 runs in India’s opening match of the 2015 World Cup against Pakistan. The southpaw recalled that his form was not up to the mark before the World Cup and the people had doubts over his performances.
“I feel more pressure against Pakistan because of the environment in the ground. There are too many people, music, it’s a whole different feeling,” he said.
“I still remember our game against Pakistan in 2015 World Cup in Adelaide. It was our first game of the tournament. When we went out for practice a day before the match, there was a large group of people. Next morning, when I woke up for the match, there were still a lot of people present. My form wasn’t that good during that time and I didn’t play well in Australia series before the World Cup,” Dhawan recalled.
Shikhar Dhawan has done a fine job for the Indian team and he has scored 5688 runs in 136 ODI matches at an average of 45.14.