No shame in admitting England failure: Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has been in roaring form in Asia Cup and goes into the final against Bangladesh as the tournament’s top run-getter with 327 runs. However, the focus is still on his failure in the recent England Test series, where he caved in against swing and scored just 162 runs in four Tests, averaging 20.25.

Despite regaining his touch in white-ball cricket, there are doubts whether the national selectors will pick the lefthanded opener for the two-Test home series against West Indies, which will essentially be trials for the Australia tour at the year end. The selectors have put off announcing the squad until the Asia Cup final.

“I did not do well (in England) but I gave it my all. Others played better than me. I accept it. There is no shame in it,” the India vicecaptain said at a news conference on Thursday. “Then I came here to play white-ball cricket, had different plans because of different conditions. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.”

“It always helps when you perform well. Agar fayda hona hoga to ho jayega, nahi hona hoga to nai hoga (if my current form has to help, it will, otherwise it won’t).”

Bangladesh dashed hopes of an India-Pakistan final, and he warned against taking the rivals lightly. “They are always tough to beat, especially at home. They are showing through performances that they have got much better. They know how to play under pressure.

“They play fearlessly against big teams and you have to appreciate that. Having said that, it takes time (to win major events)… Hopefully, we will win tomorrow, but you will see them crossing the barrier in some other tournament.”

Dhawan denied any extra pressure on him due to Virat

Kohli’s absence.“It was not like we felt we had more responsibility (with Kohli rested). It was a tournament where the management could give opportunity to upcoming players, find out who all are equipped to bat in the middle-order.

“Whether Virat is around or not, Rohit and I approach every match the same way, with the same effort. There is obviously a

lot of difference between England weather and the weather here, but in the last few years the fitness culture in the team has changed and the trainer has helped us. So that helped us deal with this heat.”

Dhawan also played down tension between the two teams. “There will always be rivalry on the field. Off it, we are friends, on it we have to do our job.”