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Delhi Capitals (DC) started their IPL 2021 campaign in style as fiery knocks from openers Shikhar Dhawan (85 from 54 balls) and Prithvi Shaw (72 off 38 balls) led them to a 7-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their IPL game.
Afn all-round batting effort led by Suresh Raina (56 off 36 balls) and Sam Curran (34* off 15 balls) helped CSK finish with an above par score of 188/7. However, MS Dhoni's indisciplined bowling unit was put to the sword from the get-go by an ultra attacking 138-run partnership between DC openers Dhawan and Shaw.
Asked about his aggressive batting approach at the top of the order, 'Man of the Match' Shikhar Dhawan said that it has been working well for him for the past few years and he'd continue batting the same way going forward.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Dhawan said:
"I've been playing aggressively from the last two-three years. I'll continue doing the same. You'll definitely see me playing aggressively going forward. The mindset and skill I've been playing with, I just want to keep refining it. I'm very happy that I've found consistency at a good strike-rate. For sure I'm going to continue playing like this as this version of the game demands it."
Have been scoring at a good strike-rate for the last few years, happy with my game: Shikhar Dhawan
Over the past few IPL seasons, there has been a noticeable change in Shikhar Dhawan's batting approach. While the left-handed batsman has always put up consistent scores for his franchises, he had never finished with a strike-rate in exceess of 130 between 2008 to 2017.
But even as Dhawan has continued to remain consistent, his strike-rate has sky-rocketed in the past three IPL seasons.
In the 2018 and 2019 editions of the tournament, Dhawan struck his runs at 136.91 and 135.67, respectively. IPL 2020 was Dhawan's most productive of all as he scored 618 runs at a career-best strike-rate of 144.73.
Having started off IPL 2021 on the same note with his knock against CSK, Shikhar Dhawan claimed he was happy that the new approach has been working for him and said that he was happy with his game.
"There's no change in my approach because I've been playing like this for a long time now. If you watched me in the last IPL or even before that, I've been scoring runs at a good strike-rate. I'm happy the way I'm going and I'm much more consistent. Always looking to improve whenever I can but I'm very happy and enjoying my game," Shikhar Dhawan added.
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