India Red finished as runners-up in the Duleep Trophy 2016-17 after losing to India Blue in the final. The Yuvraj Singh-led team had won the first game of the league in the tournament, but were outperformed in the high-scoring final. They were bowled out twice by the Ravindra Jadeja-led attack at the stadium in Greater Noida in the tournament which was played under lights and with the pink ball.
The India Red were boosted by the presence of Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra and Stuart Binny while Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja joined the Gautam Gambhir-led team, which already had Cheteshwar Pujara in the side.
Speaking about his experience, Dhawan said, “It has been played (this way) for the first time. So some time should be given to see how everything unfolds. It is too early to sum up and say what is what. I have played only the one game and the way we have batted and bowled (India Red) we were not so effective while the way India Blue played they were very effective in both batting and bowling. So you can see two sides to (playing with the pink ball and under lights) it in this game itself. Let’s wait and see what happens. We will know more when we play a few more tournaments.”
Speaking about batting he said, “I didn’t have much of a problem. I did feel once that ball is sighted a little late, especially at night but that too only for a delivery or two, after that I was fine.”
Discussing the competition with international and some of the best players from the domestic circuit competing in such a tournament to kick-start the home season he said, “It is very useful (to have a tournament like this) because I believe that more than practice, playing matches is a better from preparation. You can feel the pressure of the match when you are in the game for so many days. We fielded for two days so the body also got accustomed (to playing the longest format). That gives a good vibe and you carry that confidence forward.”
Asked about his view on the format of the tournament which was earlier played amongst zones while in the ongoing season three teams of players from across the country were brought together to play, he replied, “It felt good that the teams had players from all over the country so of course it leads to team bonding with various players. Yes, these days, players do interact a lot more, but here they share the dressing room and knowledge and then the competition has increased and that raises the level of cricket.”
Speaking about competition and how it boosts him, Dhawan said that it motivates him more. “It’s about how much you love the game and what your goals are. If I don’t do well I do feel bad, but with that I also look to improve and move forward.”
