“Can see shades of MS Dhoni in Shikhar Dhawan’s calm and composed captaincy” - Kamran Akmal
Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has paid a massive compliment to Shikhar Dhawan, stating that his calm leadership style is similar to that of former captain MS Dhoni. Under Dhawan, India won the ODI series in Sri Lanka 2-1. On Sunday, they triumphed in the first T20I of the three-match series as well.
Dhawan has won a lot of praise for his composed leadership. However, Akmal went one step ahead and stated on his YouTube channel that the left-hander’s captaincy reminded him a bit of Dhoni. Hailing Dhawan, Akmal said:
“Shikhar Dhawan’s captaincy in the first T20I was really good. The bowling changes and field placings were impressive. Dhawan seems like a cool captain. In fact, I can seen shades of MS Dhoni in Dhawan’s calm and composed captaincy. He took excellent decisions under pressure and did not panic even after Sri Lanka got off to a quick start. To win by 38 runs after the Lankans were 20 for no loss after two overs was an excellent effort and Dhawan must get some credit for it. Of course, the bowlers were also brilliant."
Akmal also praised India’s bowling while defending a total of 164, especially the performance of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who claimed 4 for 22. The Pakistan cricketer said:
“Vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought all his experience into play. He is a class bowler. A target of 165 is very much attainable in today’s T20 cricket but India’s bowling was top-notch and Sri Lanka’s batting could not stand up to the challenge.”
Knew our spinners will get some turn: Shikhar Dhawan
Following India’s 38-run win, skipper Dhawan said that the team was confident of defending the target as they knew the spinners would turn the ball. The southpaw stated at the post-match conference:
"Sri Lanka were playing well but we knew our spinners will get some turn. Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) and KP (Krunal Pandya) bowled really well. And even Varun (Chakravarthy), playing his first match."
Dhawan admitted that India were 10-15 runs short of the par score but added that they recovered well after losing a wicket (Prithvi Shaw) off the first ball of the match. The Indian captain stated:
"I thought we were 10-15 runs short but we felt it was still a good total. We played quite well after losing a wicket on the first ball. Getting to 50 in the powerplay was good. I think only 5% scope of improvement. Surya is a great player and we enjoy watching him bat. He was taking pressure off me as well."
India and Sri Lanka will meet in the second T20I on Tuesday, July 27 in Colombo.