Published: Feb 22, 2015, 06:57 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 22, 2015, 06:57 PM (IST)
Melbourne: MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, praised Shikhar Dhawan after the left-handed opener’s century helped India beat South Africa in their ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Dhoni credited Dhawan’s hard work in practice that helped him bounce back after a tough run on the tour to Australia. Dhawan started the World Cup with a good innings of 73 against Pakistan and followed that up with an innings of 137 against South Africa.Full Scorecard: India vs South Africa, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Pool B match
When asked about Dhawan’s batting, Dhoni said, “I think he batted really well. The reason was if you see he was putting in effort in the net sessions, and as I said, a lot of times people talk about form, but form is something that nobody sees. It’s just a matter of 15-20 minutes, and maybe it was something that he spent in the last game, that 20 minutes of initial batting that really helped him. Today also you can see he was really batting the way he bats when it was there to play the big shots, he did play it, and he was also rotating the strike.”ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
Dhoni also spoke about the importance of converting starts into big ones. He laid emphasis on the openers going on to bat for majority of the innings once they get a start. Dhawan did exactly that and Dhoni praised him, “He (Dhawan) made sure that once he got his hundred he was still there at the crease so it was easier for the other batsmen, also. It’s important if you get a hundred and you are able to score 130 or 140 runs you always see the team getting those extra 20 or 25 runs. So it was good on his part to make sure he stays until the end because the general tendency at times is for the openers is to after the 25th over they like to play the big shots. They think their job is over. But I think in these conditions once you are set you have to make the most of it.”ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE
With this victory, India have remained at the top of the table in Group B at the ICC World Cup 2015. India had started their campaign with a 76-run victory over Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval. They have now strengthened their position with a 130-run victory over South Africa in Melbourne. India will now fly down to Perth, where they will play the United Arab Emirates, followed by the West Indies.India vs South Africa, ICC Cricket World Cup- In Photos
