Shikhar Dhawan excited about homecoming at Delhi Capitals: The opening batsman talked about returning to his home team in the IPL.
India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has expressed his excitement regarding a ‘homecoming’ in the 12th season of the Indian Premier League. After being swapped for three players before the IPL auction, he will play for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2019.
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Having started his IPL career at Delhi (then Daredevils), Dhawan will return to his home team after 11 years. After a one-year stint with Delhi, Dhawan represented Mumbai Indians for a couple of years. The southpaw then played for Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad for eight seasons.
In a recent interview with The Times of India, Dhawan laid emphasis on his know-how of the Feroz Shah Kotla pitches and ground having it in it to come good for him in IPL 2019.
This is the least we can do. Jis se jitna ban pade utna zaroor karein. Jai Hind🙏#standwithforces #pulwama pic.twitter.com/HvzzXi8ERb
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) February 17, 2019
Most minutes batted in ODIs since 2018:
1510+ – Virat Kohli
1289+ – Kane Williamson
1172+ – Martin Guptill
1152+ – Fakhar Zaman
1145+ – Ross Taylor
1133+ – Imam-ul-Haq
986+ – Joe Root
968+ – Shikhar Dhawan
956+ – Rohit Sharma— FoMA Ramteke (@fomaramteke) February 18, 2019
“It’s a homecoming for me”
“Ghar wapasi ho gayi hai ji meri (It is a homecoming for me). This is where I grew up. So, it’s good to come back. On the cricket front, it’s good that I will be playing half my games at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground and I have played there for so many years that I know the ground and the pitches there,” Dhawan was quoted as saying.
Back in 2008, Dhawan was another of those talented opening batsmen. Having represented India across formats now, he brings with him a substantial amount of experience.
“I’m adjusting well to it actually. I’m bringing 11 years of experience. I was a rookie back then. learnt lots of stuff from all the senior players- AB de Villiers, Viru bhai [Virender Sehwag], Gauti bhai [Gautam Gambhir], [Glenn] McGrath, Daniel Vettori. I remember all of them,” Dhawan said while recollecting his maiden IPL season.
Shikhar Dhawan To Help Families Of Soldiers Killed In Pulwama https://t.co/JPdb9bjH8Y pic.twitter.com/PXWwgxOxoB
— Zyite.com (@zyiteblog) February 17, 2019
Great initiative paaji but encourage fellow sports persons to do the same!
— Arvind Krishnan (@arvyforlife) February 17, 2019
“Outscoring Kumar Sangakkara gave me confidence”
Recently, Indian Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan visited Sehwag International School and appreciated the school’s concept of teaching & training with equal focus on both sports and studies. He even praised the students and found them well mannered. Watch the video… pic.twitter.com/tjPJC6WFLW
— Sehwag Intrnl School (@SehwagSchool) February 18, 2019
In another recent interview with CricketNext, Dhawan reflected back on playing with some of the greats of the game in the IPL and how scoring more runs than Kumar Sangakkara gave him confidence.
“The first year I played for Delhi franchise, I shared the dressing room with them and it was a really big deal for me. Just spending time with them was great and that increased my confidence level.
“When I joined Mumbai Indians, I got the chance to open with Sachin bhaji [Tendulkar]. Even with Deccan Chargers, I played with [Kumar] Sangakkara and when I scored more runs than him, step by step it gave me confidence,” Dhawan said.
