Let Shikhar Dhawan be himself, says skipper Rohit Sharma

Shikhar Dhawan (right) is congratulated by skipper Rohit Sharma after the former's century in Dubai on Sunday. Pic/AFP

Skipper Rohit Sharma (111') and fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan (114) are in the form of their life. And if the opposition is benevolent towards them, dropping catches aplenty, then the two will make them pay. That's what they did to Pakistan in a crucial Asia Cup Super Four match on Sunday. With both scoring centuries and putting on a huge 210-run stand, the arch-rivals could not even put up a semblance of a fight.

The successful alliance of Rohit and Dhawan in the absence of Virat Kohli, the skipper and mainstay of the batting, ensured India did not have any hiccups which chasing down the target. "Opening with Dhawan is [a pleasure], I don't even need to speak to him. It's important to let him be and we've batted enough to understand each other's games. We know how important the first 10 overs are. The chase becomes a little easier if that's done well. The most important thing was to bat as long as possible and that's what we did," Rohit said after India chased the 238-run target to defeat Pakistan comprehensively by nine wickets and book a berth in the final.

On his fluent batting in which he struck some lusty sixes without much effort, he said: "Nothing is easy and when it comes off it looks nice. Pakistan have a great bowling line-up and it's important to keep them under pressure."

The stand-in skipper spoke highly of the bowling unit as a whole, and Jasprit Bumrah in particular. "Bumrah has matured as a bowler now. He has played a great amount of cricket and understands his bowling. That's very important as he understands what fields he needs to set and on a wicket like this [flat] you need to be clever, keep it tight, and keep up pressure. Bhuvneshwar [Kumar] too did exactly the same. Our spinners have been magnificent throughout the tournament," Rohit said.

3,636
No. of runs put on by Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan for the opening wicket in ODIs

Also Read: Asia Cup 2018: India's Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan Demolish Pakistan By 9 Wickets

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