IPL 2020: 'I would love to be an impact player for my team,' says Shikhar Dhawan
Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan has stated that he would love to be an impact player for his team. The 34-year-old believes his role in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) would be to get his team off to a fantastic start in the powerplay and then anchor the innings. He plays a similar kind of role while playing for India too.
Shikhar Dhawan's counter-attacking style of play helps his fellow Indian opener, Rohit Sharma, to take his time and settle down. He believes he will have to play the same way for the Delhi Capitals.
He is also of the opinion that there must be a fine balance between aggression and caution as the batting team should not lose too many wickets in an attempt to score quick runs.
Shikhar Dhawan told Hindustan Times:
“In IPL, we have to give a fiery start. And then the person who is set takes the game further. I would love to be an impact player, create momentum for my team. For 5-6 overs mostly I am the aggressor for India too; Rohit (Sharma) takes his time and then plays. I am talking about ODIs here."
He continued:
"(In T20) you get 6-7 balls to settle. Sometimes it depends on what the team role is, if the team wants 50 runs from 6 overs...everyday it’s not the same thing, but mostly you have to fire from both ends and that’s the best thing. And at the same time be smart enough not to lose too many wickets.”
Ricky Ponting is a great coach and I enjoy working with him: Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan also spoke about Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting and believes that the former Australian skipper has helped him improve his game.
Ricky Ponting has advised the Indian veteran to keep his body language stronger, and it has worked wonders for the southpaw. He is looking forward to learning more from the coach as the tournament progresses:
You can now check the updated IPL orange cap here.
“He is a great coach and I enjoy working with him. He told me, keep your body language stronger and I worked on it and it has helped me. We (players) are mindful of the need to do specific things so that we improve.”
The Delhi Capitals will be hoping that Shikhar Dhawan scores heaps of runs to give them explosive starts at the top of the order. The Delhi-based franchise will begin their IPL 2020 campaign against Kings XI Punjab on 20th September at Dubai.