Conscious effort from my side to increase strike rate: Dhawan

Mumbai : Delhi Capitals’ (DC) Shikhar Dhawan said that he consciously tried to keep the strike rate up during Sunday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Punjab Kings (PBKS). Dhawan smashed 92 off just 49 balls to help DC chase down a target of 196 with six wickets and 10 balls to spare. “It was a conscious effort from my side (to increase strike rate) and I started taking more risks. I’m not afraid of changes. I’m always open towards changes and I make sure I give it a good try in the nets and then in the games. I’m not scared of getting out as well,” said Dhawan in the post-match presentation ceremony in which he was declared player of the match. “I’ve worked on the leg-side shots, coming in the crease, using the pace of the bowler. Depends who’s bowling and what plans I make for them. My slog shot has improved. It was there before as well, but now it’s (more frequent),” said Dhawan. DC captain Rishabh Pant said that the bowlers did a good job of keeping PBKS down to a total of 195/4. They looked set to score well over 200 runs during captain KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal’s opening partnership of 122 runs in 13 overs. “Coming from a loss, winning the next match was important. I have already started enjoying captaincy. But we were under pressure at the start, the wicket was not doing much. Bowlers did a good job keeping them to 190,” said Pant.