How getting dropped in Australia changed Shaw
Opener hits 72 off 38 balls, stitches 138-run stand with Dhawan to make a chase of 189 against CSK look easy
Delhi Capitals batsman Prithvi Shaw said he worked hard on himself with coach Pravin Amre after returning from a “disappointing” Australia tour and the hard work can be seen in the batting style of the opener in the recent tournaments.
Shaw played the first Test of the Australia series but the scores of 0 and 4 paved his way out of the team. The 21-year-old focused on his technique and came back strong. He amassed over 800 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, becoming the first cricketer in history to do so.
In this season’s opening clash for Delhi Capitals against Chennai Super Kings, Shaw continued his form and played a knock of 72 off 38 balls studded with three sixes and nine fours. Shaw and his partner Shikhar Dhawan put on 138 runs for the opening wicket in a chase of 189 which enabled them to defeat CSK comfortably by seven wickets.
“Feeling good. Everyone contributed and it was a good start (to the season). The wicket was good to bat on in the second innings and we executed quite well. From Australia when I was dropped I was working from there itself, coming back and across early, so I practised before going to Vijay Hazare with Pravin Amre and worked on that. I had a good plan before going into that tournament, so it is working quite well,” Shaw said after the match
“I don’t want to think about it (being dropped from the Indian side) because it was a disappointing moment for me but I have to move on and if something is wrong with my batting or technique, I have to improve and I am working hard on myself,” he added.
Dhawan also said that Shaw carried on his form from Vijay Hazare.
“I really enjoyed my batting. Was enjoying the way I was hitting the ball. Prithvi was batting really well. He carried on with his form from Vijay Hazare. It was important to get off to a good start because we were chasing a big total,” Dhawan said.
The left- handed batsman played a knock of 85 runs was studded with two sixes and 10 fours. He played shots all around the park and troubled CSK bowlers with his clever batting. “I have to innovate a few shots and I enjoy taking up challenges. I was playing the ball close to the body. The wicket was a little sticky. I knew my game plan. It is tremendous to watch Prithvi. He played some effortless shots. So good and so happy for him as he didn’t have a good IPL last time around. I liked the Moeen Ali catch the most,” he added.
Pant happy
Delhi Capitals’ new skipper Rishabh Pant said walking out with Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the toss in their IPL opener here was a special moment for him as the Chennai Super Kings talisman has been his “go-to man.”
“Actually, it was special for me captaining in IPL and walking out for toss with MS. I have learnt from him and he’s my go- to man,” Pant said at the post-match presentation ceremony here on Saturday night.
The likes of Chris Woakes and Avesh Khan ensured DC did not miss their first-choice pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Andre Nortje who are serving their quarantine.
“It was good, once you win the match everything is good. In the middle phase,
I was under pressure, but good job from Avesh and the bowlers.
“We were thinking as to what we will do without Nortje and Rabada and I thought we had to do with the options we have.
“We thought whatever we have we have to work around this and put the best playing XI. We just wanted to finish the match before one over, we didn’t think about the run-rate.” Pant also lauded the opening duo of Dhawan and Shaw.
“Prithvi and Shikhar did a good job for us in the powerplay. They kept it simple and looked for boundaries.” CSK captain Dhoni said his bowlers will have to pull up their socks after a “poor” outing. “We could have bowled slightly better, and if batters are hitting you over the fields, that’s fair enough.
“The execution of the bowlers was poor and there were boundary balls that they bowled, but the bowlers will have learned and they will apply that in the future games,” Dhoni said.
Pant won the toss and opted to bowl in the game and Dhoni said the dew factor played on their minds.
“A lot depended on dew, and that factor played on our mind from the start and that’s why we wanted to get as many runs as possible.
“The batters did a good job to reach 188, because it was tricky until dew settled in 50 minutes later. The opposition have half an hour advantage in a 7: 30 start, when the pitch is really tricky and the ball stops a bit, so we need to get 15-20 runs extra to be sage. “If we get dew consistently, then 200 will be a must on a pitch like this. The bowlers bowled a great line when it was stopping and seaming a bit, and the openers got really good balls in which they got out and that can happen in a game like this,” Dhoni said.
Earlier, Suresh Raina announced his IPL comeback with a blazing 36-ball 54 and powered his team to a solid 188 for seven. Sam Curran smashed 34 off only 15 balls to prop up the CSK innings towards the end. Curran hit four fours and two sixes.
Losing Josh Hazlewood was a big blow as it left the team bereft of overseas pace bowling options with Jason Behrendorff and South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi also not available for the next game, said Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming.
“(Lungi) Ngidi won’t be available. He won’t be arriving in time for the next game. So losing Josh Hazlewood, which was the plan to have him available for these games, is a blow simply as an option upfront,” Fleming said in the post-match press conference.