IPL 2020: Behind Shikhar Dhawan’s Smashing Performance Is Ricky Ponting’s Ultimate Pep Talk

Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan playing for the Delhi Capitals in the current season of the Indian Premier League got off to a slow start in the first few games for his team. There were also talks that he might be replaced by Ajinkya Rahane. But looking at his performance in the past few matches, the critics have been proven wrong.

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In the last four games, Dhawan has scored two half centuries and two centuries –becoming the first-ever player to hit back-to-back hundreds in the history of the league. In his last match, the 34-year-old cricketer smashed 106 runs against Kings XI Punjab.

However, an inspiring pep talk has played a crucial role behind this super comeback. Speaking to news agency ANI, Dhawan said how a chat with Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting about his initial slow start gave him confidence that he was on the right track. “Ricky bhai said that I was batting well and I knew I wanted to play a little fast. I had a discussion on that also with him. I was happy with the 20s and 30s because they were impactful,” he stated.

IPL 2020: From 20s-30s to historic ton – How a chat with Ricky Ponting helped Shikhar Dhawan

Dhawan said that in a T20 match what matters in how important those 30 runs were. “I thought I was playing the role of the opener. The moment I got fifties, I gained in confidence and then by God’s grace I scored the centuries,” Dhawan explained.

He further said that if he kept thinking about scoring centuries, he would burden himself and his idea is to go out and give it his best shot. Dhawan said if he made sure that he gives it his best, the rest will follow on its own. This strategy also helps the cricketer to relieve mental pressure.

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He said that during his initial performance of the season, when he did not even score a half century, aiming for a total of 500 runs felt like a far-fetched possibility. Even though he has been scoring 500 runs over the last few seasons, Dhawan did not want to use it to pressurise himself. He said he looked at his previous record-setting performances positively and continued to give his best performance in the current season without the pressure of maintaining or creating new records.

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