Shikhar Dhawan
Left-handed batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a brilliant century during Delhi Capitals' thrilling win over Chennai Super Kings, has stated he is happy that his first ton in the Indian Premier League came during a win.
On Saturday, Dhawan cracked a 58-ball unbeaten 101 to lead Capitals to a successful chase of 180 during their game against the MS Dhoni-led side at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
"I am very happy that after 13 years, I was able to score an IPL hundred. I was getting scores of 80s and 90s earlier. But I am glad that my maiden IPL hundred helped the team win while chasing," Dhawan told Patel in an interview for iplt20.com.
During the course of his innings, the left-handed batsman showed why he remains Team India's first choice white-ball opener. It was a single-handed effort till the 19th over.
"The wicket was slow and tricky. But after 13-14 overs, there was dew which made batting a little bit easier. Good thing for us was that after losing a couple of wickets in the initial overs, we didn't lose any further wicket and kept the scoreboard ticking. And when the dew settled in, CSK spinners found it difficult to grip which worked in our favour," he added.
Following the wicket of Alex Carey, out came Axar Patel and smacked three sixes off Ravindra Jadeja in the last over and ensured Dhawan's maiden IPL century didn't go in vain.
Axar also talked about his batting plan and said: "I entered the field with a mindset of see the ball, hit the ball. However, I was not focussed on hitting the ball hard, all I tried was to time it and thankfully it happened."
Courtesy their efforts, Capitals are now placed at the top of the points table with 14 points from nine matches.
