Shikhar Dhawan opens up on fighting setbacks on & off the field

Veteran India opener Shikhar Dhawan has opened up the ups and downs he has been facing now. He stated that they only make him stronger. However, while playing for India for the first time in six months, he top-scored with 79 in the first ODI although South Africa won by 31 runs.

However, Shikhar Dhawan has had a tough time in the last six months. While he was going through a marital separation, he failed to get a place in India’s T20 World Cup squad despite having a stunning IPL 2021. And, he later failed to perform well for Delhi and has had to fight for the opening slot in the ODI squad as well.

“I don’t listen to media or don’t read newspaper or watch news, so that way I don’t take all those information. I have full faith in myself – the kind of player I have become, I have great clarity on what my game is – and I stay quite calm.“And this is part of playing, everybody’s life has ups and downs, it’s nothing new. It’s not that it’s happening for the first time or for the last time in my career or life, so it’s alright and that only makes me stronger,” Shikhar Dhawan said at the post-match press conference.

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While talking about his personal goals, especially with the ODI World Cup next, Shikhar Dhawan said that he only wishes to stay fit and healthy as well.

“My personal target is to stay fit, stay healthy” – Shikhar Dhawan

“My personal target is to stay fit, stay healthy. And if I am fit and healthy, with my experience, I’ll keep scoring lots of runs,” he stated.

Meanwhile, India have a poor start in the ODI series after the 1-2 Test series defeat to South Africa. While chasing 297 runs for victory, India lost the captain KL Rahul for 12 off 17. But senior players – Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli steadied the ship with a 92-run second-wicket stand. However, it went in vain as the middle orders couldn’t manage to build partnerships.

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Dhawan shared: “At the start, we looked to play to the merit of the balls. We knew that the ball won’t come that fast on this wicket – this was unlike any other South African wicket, it was sort of an Indian wicket. So I got runs off the fast bowlers at the start and, then when I got the flow, I was capitalising on that. But when the wicket fell, it was there in my mind that we have to build partnerships.

“There was turn for the spinners, some were even coming straight, so it wasn’t easy for new batters to come out and score quickly. Hence, for the set batters, the plan was to carry on. But unfortunately, the ball I got out to, it turned more than I expected. But yeah, that happens,” Shikhar Dhawan concluded.