Dhawan earns skipper’s praise
DHONI: ONCE HE GETS A START, HE PLAYS A BIG INNINGS
Indians win their fifth game to comfortably top Pool B.
Hamilton
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni saluted Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form after the opener smashed his second World Cup hundred in yesterday’s eight-wicket win over Ireland.
Dhawan hit an 85-ball 100 with five sixes and 11 fours to anchor India’s 260-run chase in 36.5 overs at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
That gave India a fifth straight win to ensure top spot in Pool B and a quarterfinal match-up against the fourth-placed finishers in Pool A, a position currently occupied by Sri Lanka.
Dhawan, who also smashed 137 in the win over South Africa, had suffered a wretched bout of form at the tri-nations series leading up to the World Cup, scoring just two, one, eight and 38.
“It is important to back your players,” said Dhoni.
“We’ve always believed in him. But the final step that needs to be taken is from the individual, and I felt he prepared well for these ODIs, and it obviously takes time.”
Dhoni said Dhawan was capitalising on his good starts in the five World Cup matches where the defending champions have barely broken sweat.
“Overall, the difference I’ve seen in his batting is once he gets a start he sees it as an opportunity to turn that start into a big innings, and right from the first game that’s what he’s done.”
Dhoni also praised key off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who took 2/38.
“Ashwin is someone who I always love to have, the reason being I always push him to bowl in the power plays and have even used him whenever I’m in difficult situations. So he is really confident about his bowling,” said Dhoni. – Sapa-AFP