Says Shikhar, who laid foundation of historic chase with 176-run opening partnership
In his short career, Shikhar Dhawan has made it clear that he likes to bat on his own terms rather than dictated by the bowlers. It was, once again, evident on Wednesday night at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur where he pulverized Australian bowling attack to help India script a historic victory.
“When you are chasing such a big score, you have to take risk. But at the end of the day you have take it smartly; that is the key,” Dhawan told bcci.tv after the match indicating the intentions with which he went in to bat. “When we came in, (MS) Dhoni bhai said, ‘Treat it like a normal game, we don’t have to play rash shorts just play the way we play and play ball by ball.’ And that’s what we followed,” he added.
But he did play a rash shot when he attempted to pull a rising delivery from Clint McKay with getting into the right position and top-edged the ball which went very high but was dropped by the Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. Dhawan was on just 18. After that he ensured that the visitors pay for the mistake dearly.
Considering that India had never been able to chase a 300-plus target against Australia in the past, 360 runs seemed like a mountain. But the blitzkrieg by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Dhawan turned it into a molehill as India crossed the target with 39 balls to spare and at the loss of just one wicket.
Though Rohit, with unbeaten 141, grabbed the Man-of-the-Match award and Kohli took all the limelight with his 52-ball century, an Indian record, it was Dhawan (95) who initiated the massacre and added 176 runs in partnership for first wicket.
“We just went in with the thought that we are going to play ball by ball and just get us ourselves set first rather than just going and hitting and trying too many things. So we just took our time, and then once we got set, we played our shots and played with the bowler’s mind,” Dhawan said.
“…we work on it in the nets. It is like when the bowler is bowling, we can tell what line he is bowling or most of the time he is going to bowl that length. So if I am not comfortable to hit it from there and if I need a boundary, then I like to step out some time or do something different. So it makes the bowler think that the batsman is going to do something. It’s just to disturb his mind and make him bowl something else, which he doesn’t want to.
“It is a good feeling, especially this game since it was a very big target for us. Mitchell Johnson has got pace and I like to make use of it. And the other bowlers are not that quick, so I thought that I can step out and adjust to their pace and play my shots. So that’s what I did,” he added.
The way Rohit and Dhawan batted in the match, it never seemed that anyone could get out. But Dhawan got out in the middle of the chase and missed his century by five runs. “...we wanted to bat as long as possible and make that partnership really big; and it was good to score a 150-plus partnership. It was a good feeling. Unfortunately I got out on 95. I would have loved to score a century, but that’s alright. It’s part and parcel of a game and hopefully with the grace of God I will score it in the coming games,” Dhawan said.
On his partnership with Rohit, he said, “We are both very comfortable with each other and know each other’s game. Sometimes he plays aggressively and I step back and play the anchor role and vice versa. So the flexibility is good between us.”