Former India batter Virender Sehwag feels that the teams should be scared of Shikhar Dhawan as the Punjab Kings opener has returned to form with a 70-run knock against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Dhawan, who was going through a lean patch in the initial matches of the season, scored a sensible 70 runs off 50 balls to take Punjab Kings to 198/5 in 20 overs.
He shared a crucial 97-run opening stand alongside Mayank Agarwal where the southpaw played the anchor role which provided the freedom to his skipper to play his shots freely. Mayank, who was named Player of the Match, scored 52 runs off 32 balls as his innings was laced with two sixes and six fours.
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Sehwag talked highly of Dhawan and said that the destructive opener loves scoring against Mumbai Indians which was also the case when he used to represent Delhi Capitals in previous seasons.
“Shikhar is a fantastic player. Form can be fickle at times. He loves scoring runs against his favourite team, which is Mumbai Indians. He scored against Mumbai when he was playing for Delhi Capitals,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
However, Sehwag also pointed out a shortcoming in his knock and said that the Punjab Kings opener should have scored a bit quicker which would have helped Punjab cross 210 runs.
“I think scoring 70 in 50 balls is a little slow. Had he scored 85 in 50 balls, then the score would have reached around 215. That is the only shortcoming, I think. Had he stayed till the end he would have pushed the score further but he was dismissed. Gabbar Is Gabbar and teams should be scared of him,” Sehwag said.
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Apart from Shikhar and Mayank’s superb hitting at the top, Jitesh Sharma (30 off 15) and Shahrukh Khan (15 not out off 6) gave late flourish to Punjab’s innings at lower down the order.
The win over Mumbai Indians has helped Punjab Kings to move to the third spot in the points table behind Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders.
They will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 17 at DY Patil Stadium. The Orange Army has also returned to winning ways with back-to-back wins over Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans.
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