Our strength is that we have a perfect mix of experience and youth, says Dhawan

INDIA BATSMAN Shikhar Dhawan believes that his side has the perfect mix of experience and youth and that it is helping them perform in the limited-overs series.

The visitors lead 0-2 ahead of the third ODI at Cape Town. As reported by PTI, the India opener spoke of his team’s strength and said,

“We have a lot of experience. For instance, this is my second tour to South Africa, so I was better equipped for this tour, mentally and skill-wise. That plays a big role. The good thing is there’s experience and youth, but the younger players are also playing like they have had a lot of experience. That is a big strength of ours.”

South Africa have struggled against the wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav and injury to key players like Ab de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock has compounded their woes. The spin duo shared 13 wickets between them in the first two ODIs. Speaking about the two, Dhawan reckoned that he finds Kuldeep a bit harder to read. 

“It is difficult to play wrist-spinners because they can turn the ball on flat tracks also. And when the ball starts turning, the overseas players especially aren’t very used to it. That can create doubts in batsmen’s minds, which is why they are effective. If I speak of Kuldeep and Chahal, I personally find Kuldeep harder to read, and easier to read the leg spinners. There are many who can’t read the leg spinner’s googly, so Chahal’s googly will surely fool batsmen. But speaking for myself only, I find Kuldeep tougher to read.”

Rohit Sharma’s form has been a concern for the Indian cricket fans, however, Dhawan is confident that the Mumbai-lad is timing the ball well and that the big knock is around the corner.

“I feel Rohit is playing amazingly. The way he’s timing the ball has been amazing. Even in the last match he was playing very well, but unfortunately he got out. I don’t see any concerns with his batting. The key for our success is we are not losing wickets on top. Of course the South African fast bowling is very strong, but we are playing them nicely. And once we cross the first 10 overs, the ball gets a bit older and we dominate more after that.” 

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