“Patience is the only thing that helped me out of these tough conditions,” says man-of-the moment Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan slammed a brilliant century of 114 runs that helped India win their opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Dhawan added,” I am quite pleased with my knock as it came in a winning cause”
He was quoted by Times of India saying, “I am happy with the knock and since it came for a winning cause, it's make me happier.” Indian skipper MS Dhoni took a bold decision of resting Murali Vijay in the opening match and let Rohit Sharma take up the challenge. Sharma did justice to his skipper’s decision and scored a brilliant 65 runs, which helped India in getting a brilliant start.
Dhawan was quoted by Indian Express saying, "It was nice to play with Rohit. He is such a pleasure to watch and runs the singles very well. We adjusted to the conditions well and once we settled down, the runs started coming. It was quite a job.”
The Southpaw added, "Guys like (Morne) Morkel and Ryan McLaren are well known names in the world of fast bowling. So we knew they would attack us from the start. But we took our time to settle down.”
The left-handed was quoted by Deccan Chronicle saying, "I enjoy taking pressure but today it was more about waiting for the loose balls. The wicket was good to bat but it was important not to rush into strokes. This strategy worked very well after the first power-play.”
The exposure to "nets in English conditions" did help him prepare for Thursday's game. As for stepping out to the fastest of bowlers, Dhawan added, "It's my nature. Courage comes normally to me. I am used to it."
The Delhi left-hander will now have to keep this form going as India play West Indies and Pakistan next in what is clearly the Group of Death.