Shikhar Dhawan, the opening batsman, revealed that India carefully planned the stiff run-chase in the second T20I against Australia. He stated that India planned to initially laid the foundation by getting settled at the crease and then take calculated chances thereafter to stay ahead of the game.
Shikhar Dhawan revealed the Indian team’s strategies while chasing the stiff 195-run target in the second T20I in a post-match interview on the Sony Sports network.
Shikhar Dhawan Went To The Crease With A Positive Intent
He was asked about the discussion between him and another opener KL Rahul on how they would approach the chase. The southpaw replied that the Indian openers decided to have a positive mindset as the pitch was still good for batting and they backed their strengths.
“The only talk we had was to stay positive after seeing the first couple of overs because the pitch had a little extra bounce. The pitch was quite good, we had scored 8-9 runs in the first couple of overs and after that, we knew our strength and we backed it and made runs from there.”
On being asked by Virender Sehwag whether his confidence was low, the dashing opener said that despite not scoring runs in the last couple of matches, he was positive and backed his strengths.
“Yes, the runs were not coming in the last couple of matches but it was not that the confidence was less. I always talk to myself positively and back my strengths.”
Shikhar Dhawan praised batsmen of India most of whom played their part in India’s mammoth 195 run chase in India’s win in the second T20I against Australia.
“I went in with that positivity and I batted well today in a calculative fashion. It was a good win as it is a big thing to chase 195 runs, especially against Australia. So, it felt very nice and everyone played their roles well.”
Australia who lost the first T20I by 11 runs were missing regular skipper Aaron Finch, but stand-in captain Matthew Wade opened and scored 58. In form, Steve Smith too scored 46, for India T Natarajan impressed yet again picking 2 wickets conceding only 20 runs. All Indian batsmen had a strike rate of more than 130 as India played aggressively.
Shikhar Dhawan: Plan Was To Play On Merit Of The Ball After Which India Planned To Take Calculated Chances
Mohammad Kaif asked the Delhi Capitals batsman whether the plan was to play big shots at the outset and build a solid platform, replying to which the opener said the plan was to play according to the merits of the ball initially and then take calculated risks thereafter.
“As an opener, the aim was to get our eye in but not with a defensive mindset and play on the merit of the ball, whether it was swinging or not. After that, we planned to take calculated chances.”
Shikhar Dhawan observed that since India started well in the stiff run chase by getting off into a flier start, they could manage to play out a couple of relatively quiet overs as Australians were under enormous pressure.
“Like today we had 60 runs in 6 overs, so once you are ahead of the game even if we have a couple of normal overs, it is not a problem and pressure keeps coming on the bowling side,” he added.
Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with 52 off 36 balls in the second T20I as India scored 56 runs in 5.2 overs before KL Rahul who scored 30 was dismissed. Shikhar Dhawan continued to play aggressively before he was dismissed with the score at 95/2 in the 12th over. India reached the target of 195 with 2 balls remaining after Hardik Pandya played a quickfire unbeaten knock of 42 off only 22 balls.