IND vs SA 2022: Our plan was to take on South African bowlers in first 10 overs – Shikhar Dhawan

Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan has revealed that their plan was to take on the attack against the South African bowler in the first 10 overs while chasing 279 runs in the second ODI at the JSCA International Cricket Complex, Ranchi on Sunday.

India’s opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill added 28 runs in the first six overs. Dhawan was dismissed cheaply for 13 runs but Gill continued to bat aggressively. The hosts added 55 for the loss of two wickets in the first 10 overs and Dhawan said that they thought run-scoring would have become difficult in the middle overs.

However, it wasn’t to be as Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan made it look easy as the pair added a fine alliance of 161 runs for the third wicket. Iyer went on to score his second ODI hundred while Kishan missed his maiden ODI century by seven runs.

It became difficult for the South African spinners to grip the ball in dew conditions and Iyer and Kishan made the most of it by attacking their spin duo of Keshan Maharaj and Bjorn Froutin.

Shikhar Dhawan also jokingly thanked Keshav Maharaj, who decided to bat first after winning the toss.

Dhawan said in the post-match presentation, “Worked perfectly well for us, thanks to Keshav that he chose to bat (smiles). Glad that dew came in at the right time. Ishan and Shreyas batted so well, that partnership was so nice to watch. It was coming on nicely, but it stayed low. Plan was to take on the bowlers in the first 10 overs as we knew it could get difficult in the middle overs. When the dew came, you could see that it got easier. Very satisfied with the bowling unit, they are all young and these are good learnings for them. Especially Shahbaz. All the young boys, I’m so proud that they showed so much maturity.”

It was a fine collective effort from the Indian team as the bowlers did a fine job in restricting South Africa to 278 runs. India impressed with their death bowling as they conceded only 57 runs in the last 10 overs and then Iyer and Kishan did a fine job with the bat for the team.

The deciding ODI will be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Tuesday.