Shikhar Dhawan confident India can taste success at World T20
India’s Shikhar Dhawan is confident that his side has the potential to match the expectations of the ‘favourites’ tag and clinch the 2016 World T20 title, IBN Live reports. Not bothered by the narrow loss against South Africa in the warm-up game on Saturday, Dhawan said that the Men in Blue were like a close-knit family with the right combination of experience and youth.
Chasing the huge target of 197 set by the Proteas, India came agonisingly close to overcoming the total thanks largely to a splendid knock by Dhawan who made 73 off 53 balls before retiring hurt along with Suresh Raina to make way for Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. Though India failed to cross the line, falling short of the South African total by four runs, Dhawan is confident that the lessons learnt at the Wankhede will be put to use in the future games.
"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,” Dhawan told reporters at the post-match conference late last night. “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 Delhi cricketer said that the match against South Africa was a warm-up game more than anything, with emphasis laid on testing out the squad strength before the World T20 begins.
“We guys were trying combinations, like Bhajji pa (Harbhajan Singh) bowled the first over. I guess that's how we are trying and it's good everyone is getting a game and getting used to the pressure, the wickets," he said.
Yuvraj and Pandya essential for Team India
Dhawan expressed confidence that the presence of senior pros like Yuvraj Singh and an explosive all-rounder in Hardik Pandya, will help India going a long way at the elite tournament, especially considering their brilliant run of results since the turn of the year.
"We have got depth in our side in both batting and bowling. We also have got a very good allrounder in Hardik (Pandya) who is performing. He just came in the side and have been performing from the word go. That is a big positive and we got experience now in our side.
"Yuvi pa's (Yuvraj Singh) presence makes a huge difference for all youngsters and of course, their experience comes in handy. Because of all these reasons, I feel why everyone is rating us the best. We guys have been winning consistently and from those wins we are getting a lot of confidence and we are building our confidence game after game," he said.
The 30-year-old said that the team spirit within the side was another crucial factor that will help India match the high expectations surrounding the World T20 event to be held in home conditions.
"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.
Dhawan, who has been in brilliant touch himself, was happy with his knock against the Proteas and said that he would be looking to bat through in the coming games as well.
"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 more better. It was a good learning for me and I got more wiser," he said.
Dhawan said that the Indian team was looking forward to their opening game against New Zealand at Nagpur on Tuesday.
"We have earlier played against them. We know the strengths of their particular batsman and bowler. We are ready for the game," Dhawan said.