IPL 2019 | Was mentally prepared for measured knock, says Prithvi Shaw

In Monday’s Indian Premier League encounter against Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals had their task cut out as they had to chase down 192 runs after opting to bowl first. Shikhar Dhawan was looking in fine form as DC reached 67 in just seven overs and the 33-year-old had notched up a half-century in just 25 balls. On the other hand, Prithvi Shaw played the anchor’s role by scoring a run-a-ball 17 until then. The young opener shared that he wanted to bat deep and was mentally prepared for such an innings.

"It makes sense if someone is going better than you in the Power Play like Shikhi (Shikhar Dhawan) bhai has done, I can't just go out and smash every ball. I have to be mentally prepared as well to play that sort of innings. When Dhawan was hitting the way he was, I thought I should take the game deep because incase he got out, one set batsman should be there to take the game deep," said Shaw, at the post-match press conference, reported Cricketnext.

The pitch at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium was at it’s finest and to further add to the bowler’s woes, the dew had already started settling in the powerplay overs of the second innings. As many as five bowlers were used in the six-over powerplay period, with leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal bowling the fourth over. Dhawan did not spare him as he scored 15 runs off the over and the pair even played out the next over of Jofra Archer, scoring eight runs off it. Shaw opened up on the side’s strategy.

"Definitely, there was a plan. We knew in the Power Play there will at least be one spinner bowling and Shikhar bhai was batting so well in the Power Play, he was in a good flow. Then Jofra Archer, we knew he depends more on short balls and bouncers, so we were prepared," explained the 19-year-old.

Post Dhawan’s wicket in the eighth over, skipper Shreyas Iyer was also dismissed in the next over. DC were in a precarious position but Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten blitzkrieg of 78 in 36 balls, coupled with Shaw’s 49-ball 42 ensured a victory for the side with just four balls and six wickets remaining.

"He and Shreyas Iyer, both were dismissed in quick succession. But I was confident that if I took the game deep, I would be able to do the job. Rishabh, obviously is the biggest finisher of the game in T20 right now. I was just waiting for my chance and later on I too switched gears,” asserted the India test player.

The Royals were staring at a gargantuan total in excess of 200 as they were placed at 135 at the end of 13 overs. But the pace bowlers made a comeback with the wickets of Ben Stokes and Ashton Turner and thereby, restricted RR under 200 despite Ajinkya Rahane’s century and Stuart Binny’s quickfire 19. The right-hander stated that the Ricky Ponting-coached side was confident of chasing down 192.

"The way they started, it felt like the wicket was pretty good. Also, I felt we bowled really well between overs 13 and 20, otherwise Rajasthan looked like scoring 210-220 at one stage. And we were confident of chasing down 190 on this surface. The boundaries here were so huge that one of us had to take a chance in the Power Play, be it me or Dhawan,” he signed off.