“Watching Shikhar Dhawan was nothing less than a highlights package,” said Justin Ontong, captain of South Africa A. Apart from him, the out-of-favour opener, Gautam Gambhir believes that Dhawan has set the bar of making a comeback into the Indian team a bit higher than what it really was.
Ontong was quoted by Deccan Herald saying, "Every shot he hit found the gap or went over the fielders. It was like watching a highlights package. He hit so many good shots it's hard to pick out one that stood out. There were a few sixes that went into the construction site. It was probably the best one-day innings I've seen." After receiving such a hammering, this Protean bowling unit went down to the history books, as their five of the bowlers gave away more than 60 runs which happened for the first time in List A match.
Dhawan was absolutely magical in the way he approached his game on Monday against the South Africa A as he amassed 248 runs in the 150 balls that he faced. He was looking unstoppable as he went from 100 in 86 balls to 200 in 132 balls. This stunning knock ultimately led India to a 39-run victory. With this win in the kitty, India A have now qualified for the place in final where they will be facing a tough team in Australia A, especially after couple of defeats in this series, on Wednesday.
Meanwhile the skipper of South Africa A was quoted by DNA saying, "There was nothing the bowlers could do. They were bowling the lines and lengths they wanted to be bowling and he just hit them off those lines and lengths."
Dhawan now holds the second highest individual List-A score in the world behind Alistair Brown, who scored 268 for Surrey in 2002. Dhawan's knock, an Indian record, is also the highest individual List-A score in South Africa since Graeme Pollock's 222 not out for Eastern Province back in 1974.
Reports published in The Times of India quoted Gambhir saying, "Shikhar proud of u, brilliant knock. Keep going, keep the tricolour fluttering. And yes Shikhar, thanks for raising the bar for all of us. Good luck for future too," Gambhir said.
Unmukt Chand, his opening partner of Ranji Trophy, said, "Can’t believe my ears. Shikhar Dhawan gone berserk against South Africa A. Sheer demolition by jatt. “