Shikhar Dhawan: To do well, you need big heart and captain's backing

Shikhar Dhawan has always had the uncanny knack of producing goods when the chips are down which he attributes to his "big heart" and the "backing" he has got from skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble

North Sound (Antigua): Shikhar Dhawan has always had the uncanny knack of producing goods when the chips are down which he attributes to his "big heart" and the "backing" he has got from skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble.

India's Shikhar Dhawan plays a shot bowled by West Indies' captain Jason Holder during day one of their first cricket Test match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. Pic/AP, PTI

Dhawan scored a polished 84 and is certainly feeling a bit less pressure after there were unconfirmed reports that KL Rahul, with back-to-back half-centuries in practice games will replace him in the playing XI. "I feel it is important for any player if the captain and the coach are backing you and it gives a lot of confidence. That's what matters and you also need to have self-belief that you can do that and it is a mixture of everything," Dhawan told mediapersons after the first day's play.

"Opening is the toughest job and you need a big heart for it, when facing the new ball on a new (fresh) wicket. Bowlers also bowl with full energy and as opener your technique should also be good because you have to leave a lot of balls and you need patience as well," said Dhawan.

"The middle order needs it too but a new ball has its own challenge. Vijay got a good ball and it was a very quick ball. I was luckier in that sense as Gabriel was bowling really well," he added. The Delhi left-hander was however a touch disappointed that he couldn't get to a coveted three-figure mark as he was trapped leg-before by leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.

"I felt disappointed that I got out especially when I was set and scoring runs. I had spent enough time out there in the middle and came so close to scoring a hundred," he lamented. "At the same time, I am happy that I started on a good note and would like to carry on my good performances in coming matches. I want to use the form I am in."
Dhawan did well to survive the first session when pacer Shannon Gabriel was extracting a lot of bounce from the strip.

Along with Cheteshwar Pujara, the southpaw saw off the session adding 60 runs. "I feel that in the first session the wicket was fresh and the bowling was very good. So I was respecting the good balls and knew that I cannot afford to take a chance because there was extra bounce on the wicket. So I was playing close to my body and was not in a hurry and relaxed at the crease.

It helped me later in the innings in both my partnerships with Pujara and Virat," Dhawan explained. But the best phase of the day came when he put up 105 runs off 163 balls for the fourth wicket with Kohli. They looked very comfortable at the crease and runs came quickly for the duo, as West Indies looked bereft of ideas.

"He (Kohli) played a tremendous knock and continued scoring after his hundred. Hopefully he scores big runs and gets a double hundred. It feels good to bat with him and we were rotating the strike and scoring runs at a good pace. I feel that made a difference because we made the partnership very quickly. That is a good thing and it is always a pleasure to watch Virat, the way he times the ball," said Dhawan.

Comparing the two partnerships, he said,"My partnership with Pujara was also important because the ball was new at that time and it was important to leave the balls outside the off-stump at that time. The middle-order got benefit of that because the ball was older and my partnership with Virat benefitted from that.

"We scored at good pace and it impacted the game. Virat has been batting really well which is not new." India did lose Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane at important junctures, but Ravichandran Ashwin was promoted up the order and he held fort very well. Now, the visitors will look to bat long and deep into the second day to get a firm footing in
this Test, but a lot of that will depend on how Kohli fares.

"We are in a good position especially because we are playing with only five batsmen. So we will want to bat as long as possible tomorrow and that will also tire them out. Good thing is that we have Virat well set and batting. Maybe he will score a double ton, or even a triple century," Dhawan signed off.

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