Team needs time to settle down: Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, in the pre-match press conference in Wellington, said that the new team will take some time to settle down and that they need to take the positives and move forward.

Speaking a day before the start of the first Test, he said: “We have been doing well as a team, but unfortunately we end up on the losing side. It is a new team, young players who have got only five-six matches under their belt. It takes a bit of time to settle down. The last Test we played, we fought back really nicely and even in the last innings, we batted really well. There are a lot of positives to take from the defeat and it helped in building our confidence”.

He added: “It is very sad to lose a match, and especially so close, we lost by just 40 runs. But we took positives from that game. Yes, we were disappointed for a bit, but then we overcame those things. There is always a new day. So, we started working hard again and focused on the positive things. We are confident of playing good cricket in this Test.”

Throwing his weight behind the Indian bowlers, he said: “I will play according to how the pitch is. In the previous match, we bowled them out for 100-odd. We have got very good fast bowlers who can repeat that same thing to get them out again on a low score. It is possible. The most important thing is to keep our basics strong in both batting and bowling. We have been a good fielding side and we just need to keep the intensity up. That is it”.

The left-handed opening batsman concluded by saying: “The wickets here can be double-paced, especially with the short balls and all this stuff. I planned to play straight and just enjoy being at the wicket and enjoy my time over there.”

Having lost the first Test by a narrow 40-run margin, India would be hoping to get a win in the second Test, which begins on February 14 at Wellington.