Innings against South Africa has made me wiser: Dhawan
After his unbeaten knock of 73 against South Africa in the warm-up match on Saturday, Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan opened up about his learning experience from the knock. Although India lost the match, Dhawan said that the innings made him wiser and he will be better in the coming games.
Speaking to reporters at the post-match press conference, Dhawan said that batting till the 16th over was a big learning experience for him and the innings will help him in the coming games.
"As (an) individual, it was a good learning for me as I batted till the 15th-16th over, so with my calculation for the next coming games, I will be better. It was a good learning for me and I got wiser," Dhawan said after India’s four-run defeat against South Africa.
When asked about the defeat affecting India’s preparations, the 30-year played it down saying “these are normal things.”
"Certainly, these are normal things. It does not happen that the best finishers will always guarantee you to complete the task. Everyone gave their best and that's what matters. We were chasing such a big total, and wickets fell early on, after that there was a good partnership and came so close. It was only a matter of two runs. We learnt a lot from this game. What we have learnt today, will be implemented in the future," the left-hander said.
Dhawan also added that the team is used to playing in front of the home crowd and will not be burdened by their expectations.
"We stay close as a family. We'll try to share the burden of expectation as a group and not individuals. We are playing at home and expectations of home crowds will always be there. We are also used to that," he said.
When the reporters quizzed him about their first match against New Zealand, Dhawan said, “We have earlier played against them. We know the strengths of their particular batsman and bowler. We are ready for the game."