Shikhar defends Rahul’s dismissal, says ‘bat and get out like a king’
PALLEKELE: Shikhar Dhawan has been given a new nickname by teammates and the celebration on reaching his hundred --- the opener made a victory sign with both his hands and then struck a pose --- was in response to that.
“It was a fun thing with the boys. That’s it. We made a sign. Nothing to do with the second century or anything…they gave me a new name and I was just celebrating that, that’s it. I can’t disclose the name,” said Dhawan after the day’s play.
Dhawan scored 119 and shared a 188-run partnership with KL Rahul, which is a record against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.
PLAYING FREELY
Talking about his innings and partnership with Rahul, the lefthanded batsman said, “Rahul and I, we were playing our shots and got out, it was not as if we were getting out because of the wicket or anything. We were just playing our shots and got out. After that, the Sri Lankan bowlers bowled well and pulled the match a little bit on their side, but we got (a) decent score and still got good batsmen to go and score more runs tomorrow.”
While Dhawan got to his hundred, his partner Rahul missed converting a half century into a hundred for the eighth time since last December.
‘BAT LIKE A KING’
Dhawan defended Rahul’s way of dismissal, saying it can happen while playing attacking cricket. “I would say jokingly that if you bat like a king, you should also get out like a king, you should not be dismissed like a soldier.
“If you have made runs aggressively, then you will get out that way too. That’s how it is. I know I am an aggressive batsman, so I would rather get out that way than getting out in the slips and being defensive because that is not my natural game. Rahul is also a similar batsman; he tries to take on the bowlers. It works for me, and sometimes it doesn’t work.”
BACKING SELF
Talking about his lean patch, Dhawan said, “When I was having failures, that time I had a different kind of approach. I was more in the defensive mode…but now I try to go and express myself out ther and play my natural game. So that works for me. I try to back myself as much as possible.”