A 187 on Test debut, Player of the Tournament in the Champions Trophy and five ODI centuries so far – Shikhar Dhawan has had a year he will never forget in his life. The left-handed opener concluded India’s home season with an authoritative century (119 off 95 balls) in the last ODI against West Indies to give India a 2-1 series win in Kanpur.
The Man of the Match of India’s five-wicket win, Dhawan looked back fondly at the ‘beautiful’ 2013 and focused on the huge last month of the year ahead of him.
“I am thankful for being blessed with such a beautiful year and I am really happy that I have formed the habit of scoring centuries. It’s a good habit and I want to continue with that,” Dhawan said.
“It’s good to end on a high note and this century will do a lot for my confidence when I go to South Africa.
“It also adds to my confidence that the last time I was in South Africa (playing for India A) I scored my highest List a score there (248 against South Africa A). It is assuring that I have done well recently on the South African pitches. I am really looking forward to the tour,” he said.
With the series win over West Indies, India have become the only team to have won all the series/tournaments they played in 2013. Dhawan wants the team to carry on the winning streak overseas as well and script the perfect end to the perfect year.
“This was a big win before heading to South Africa. We have been winning tournaments consistently this year and we want to stretch that winning streak for as long as we can,” he said.
Of his attractive and attacking century in Kanpur, Dhawan said, “I got starts in the first two matches but I couldn’t convert them and didn’t score runs as I had thought I would. This was the perfect occasion to do so, given it was the series-decider. It feels nice to have scored a century and help the team win,” he said before announcing his next big goal.
“My next goal is to score a few centuries in South Africa and help India win there.”
