Fortunate to have opening options: Shikhar Dhawan

Cuttack: Shikhar Dhawan feels that Team India is “fortunate” that they have three options for the opening slot in him, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, which will help in gaining the much-needed consistency required at the top of the order, with World Cup round the corner.

“We are very fortunate that we three (him, Rahane and Rohit) are there with the Indian team, who can give the consistency. It’s a very good sign for the team that our openers are scoring runs consistently. It’s very important to have a strong base whenever batting first or chasing,” Dhawan said after the conclusion of the first one-dayer.

However, the Delhi left-hander refused to be drawn into comparison between who was a better opening partner among Rohit and Rahane.

“I really enjoyed batting with both of them (Rahane and Rohit). Hopefully, they too enjoy batting with me. Both have their own styles. As far as my opening partner is concerned, it’s team’s call and I can’t answer that. I love batting with both of them. When myself and Rohit used to open, we used to do the same thing,” said Dhawan.

Dhawan found his touch during the final leg of the England ODI series, got a half century against West Indies in the truncated home series and now reached the three-figure mark against Sri Lanka in the first ODI on Sunday.

“When you play such a knock, the self confidence gets a big boost and involve yourself in such a big partnership, it’s a happy feeling,” Dhawan added.

Even as the Indian bowlers had the luxury of defending a huge total of 363/5, Dhawan was effusive in his praise for the manner in which pacers intimidated the opposition.

“They bowled with lot of discipline and good to see Ishant taking four wickets in his comeback match. They bowled really good line and length with great pace. I really appreciate the way they generated pace.”

Dhawan said that it wasn’t easy for the batsmen as pacers worked up good speed. “It was not easy for the batsmen. It’s a very good sign that India is producing good fast bowlers, we are fortunate to have bowlers clocking 145kph. It brings fear on the opposition batsmen.”

On his century that came almost after a year, he said: “I wanted to get set and play the bowlers on merit. It’s a very good feeling. First match and we won by a big margin. It gives a lot of confidence to the team. It’s good to see openers scoring got a two hundred partnership.”

India had a watchful start with 43 from the first power play and Dhawan blamed the wicket. “At the start it was seaming and swinging a bit. It wasn’t easy like the usual Indian wicket, that’s why we gave a bit of time and waited for the ball to get old before taking it forward.”