After a stellar 2018 in limited-overs cricket, India’s Shikhar Dhawan is ready to fire for the Delhi Capitals in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The left-handed opener had a poor series against New Zealand recently but his 2018 T20 record speaks for itself with Dhawan ending up as India’s highest scorer in the format with 698 runs in 17 innings.
This year, the India opener will turn out for his hometown franchise in the IPL after he was traded to the national capital-based side from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In a recent interview with CricketNext, Dhawan hailed the impact the IPL has had on Indian cricket and the exposure it has given young cricketers in the country.
“IPL is the best thing that has happened to Indian cricket. The first year I played for Delhi franchise, we had (Glenn) McGrath, AB de Villiers, Viru (Virender Sehwag), Shoaib Malik and Daniel Vettori. I shared the dressing room with them and it was a really big deal for me. Just spending time with them was great and that increased my confidence level. I scored 250-odd runs in my debut season,” said Dhawan.
Dhawan has credited the IPL for his development.
“When I joined Mumbai Indians, I got the chance to open with Sachin (Tendulkar). Even with Deccan Chargers, I played with (Kumar) Sangakkara and when I scored more runs than him, step by step it gave me confidence.
“That’s why I feel that our youngsters are so confident because they have got big exposure and it helps a lot. They bring that experience in the Indian team like Kuldeep (Yadav) has done as well as (Yuzvendra) Chahal.”
The 2019 edition of the IPL will get underway on March 23 this year with all the matches slated to take place on Indian soil.