Shikhar Dhawan features in hilarious warm-up video with Ishan Kishan
Veteran Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan and young batter Ishan Kishan were seen grooving to a peppy song during a warm-up session in the gym. Kishan shared a video of the two cricketers dancing on his Insta story.
Dhawan and Kishan are part of Team India’s ODI squad in South Africa. The visitors are 0-1 down in the three-match series, having lost the opening one-dayer by 31 runs.
Sharing the fun clip on Instagram in which both batters are trying to synchronize their dance steps, Kishan wrote:
“Just warming up with @shikhardofficial.”
Dhawan was the top-scorer for India in the first ODI at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday. He scored 79 off 84 balls, but the Men in Blue managed only 265 for 8 while chasing 297. Apart from the left-hander, Virat Kohli (51) and Shardul Thakur (50*) were the only other batters to make significant contributions.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers allowed South Africa to recover from 68 for 3 to post 296 for 4. Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen struck contrasting centuries to lift their team.
“We lost wickets in a cluster” - Shikhar Dhawan admits middle-order collapse cost India
That's that from the 1st ODI.
South Africa win by 31 runs.
Scorecard - bit.ly/SAvIND-1stODI #SAvIND https://t.co/NrRNxZgMNK
Speaking after the loss, Dhawan conceded that the middle-order collapse in the chase had hurt India significantly. The visitors went from 138 for 1 to 188 for 6 as the innings completely lost momentum.
Reflecting on the poor batting showing in the middle overs, the 36-year-old said:
"When you are chasing 300-plus totals, it isn't easy to come out and start hitting on such a surface. And when we lost a lot of wickets in a cluster, it did have an impact on the result."
On what kind of message was given to youngsters in the middle order, he revealed:
"We tell them to play according to the situation, to keep the team's interest above oneself, for as important as an individual achievements are. We tell them the importance of building partnerships. All of this is understood over time, with experience."
The veteran opener, however, did not read too much into India’s poor show with the willow in the second half of their innings. Preferring to look at the bigger picture, he asserted:
"Our thought process is that we are building a team for the 2023 world cup. There will be a few hiccups here and there, and that's fine. As a team, we analyse how we can get better.”
India will take on South Africa in a do-or-die encounter in the second ODI in Paarl on Friday, January 21.