India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who hit a match-winning 98 in the first One-day International against England after being benched for the major part of the T20 series, said international cricket is all about pressure and as an experienced player he knows how to handle it.
Having lost his place in the T20I team, Dhawan was under pressure to perform in the opening ODI on Tuesday. He responded with a solid knock of 98 at the top of the order in India’s convincing 66-run victory over world champions England.
“(In) international cricket, pressure is always there and the thing is as a experienced player, I know how to handle pressure.
“...and secondly, as I said, I am experienced player, so I know what shots to play on what certain wickets and we read the wicket nicely and communicate very nicely in the batting unit and that’s what we did and that worked for us,” the southpaw said at the virtual post-match press conference.
Dhawan, who was benched after the first T20 of the five-match, explained how he kept himself positive.
“I was focusing on my process, fitness, skill-work, gym-work and I always stay in a positive mental space. I always try and look at positives from every situation. That’s what I was doing. I was confident with my batting. I knew that if I get an opportunity, I’ll take it,” the elegant left-hander added.
Dhawan also said that the wicket at the MCA Stadium on Tuesday was seaming and swinging.
“It was seaming and swinging so, it wouldn’t have made any sense if you would have gone hard at the start, losing two-three wickets, so our plan was just stay on the wicket and respect the good deliveries and we knew that, we can always cash those runs later on,” he signed off.
With PTI Inputs