India vs Zimbabwe: ‘Enjoying batting with Shubman Gill, I feel like youngster too, says Shikhar Dhawan – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Sound 81-run innings and an unbeaten 190-odd stand with Shubman Gill (82 not out off 72 balls) gave a lot of positive to Indian batting veteran Shikhar Dhawan, who said he felt like a youngster batting with his young partner in India’s 10-wicket win over Zimbabwe in first ODI in Harare on Thursday.

“I am enjoying batting with the youngster (Gill) and I feel like a youngster too,” said the 36-year-old Dhawan in the post-match presentation ceremony. “I enjoyed the consistency from West Indies. I knew that once I was set, I would go after the bowlers. I wanted to rotate the strike as well and then was to accelerate. My rhythm with Gill has settled nicely. The way he bats and times the ball is lovely to watch. He has shown the consistency in converting fifties into bigger fifties.”

The duo’s unbeaten stand came after Indian bowlers bundled out the African side for a paltry total of 189 with Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel and Prasidh Krishna taking three wickets apiece. Dhawan, who is vice captain for the series, said he was glad to see the bowlers do well, especially Chahar, who returned to international cricket after six months.

“Our bowling unit did well and it was nice to see Deepak Chahar come back from injury and pick up three wickets. I am sure he would be feeling confident as well.”

Chahar, who was adjudged man of the match for his 3/27 spell that wiped out Zimbabwe top-order, had an injury scare as he slipped while bowling during the match. Speaking of the slip, Chahar said the incident happened because pitch on his landing area was too hard, causing him to lose his footing.

“The landing area was a little hard and my nails were not going in and were slippy. That ball I wanted to bowl a bouncer and the spikes didn’t go through and I slipped,” said Chahar, who added that he felt nervous on his return to international cricket after the break.

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