SRH coach Lara in awe of Dhawan’s 99
Hyderabad, April 10
Captain Shikhar Dhawan’s 99 off 66 balls could not help Punjab Kings win their IPL game against Sunrisers Hyderabad but batting legend Brian Lara was mighty impressed with the knock, describing it as one of the best T20 innings he has ever seen. Dhawan was the lone warrior as PBKS posted 143/9 after being sent in to bat.
SRH, who are coached by Lara, chased down the target with 17 balls to spare.
“I must commend Shikhar Dhawan. I think it is one of the best innings I’ve ever seen in T20 cricket,” Lara said. “The way he shepherded the strike and totally just controlled the game,” added the West Indian legend.
Dhawan’s knock included 12 fours and five sixes.
Another West Indian great Chris Gayle agreed with Lara and said Dhawan deserved a century.
“Shikhar was fantastic for his team, and when you keep losing wickets around you, it’s never going to be easy, and to hold the steady nerves and to actually get to that particular total and get to 99 as well,” said Gayle. “I thought he deserved a hundred and that’s one of the best innings you will ever see in the IPL as well,” he added.
Bat used by Rinku was KKR captain’s
Ahmedabad: The bat with which Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rinku Singh hit five successive sixes against Gujarat Titans actually belonged to his captain Nitish Rana, who reluctantly gave it to his teammate.
“This (the one Rinku used) is my bat and I played both matches (this season) with this bat. I played the entire Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy and the last four to five matches of last year with this bat,” Rana said.
“Today (Sunday) I changed my bat. Rinku asked me for my bat. I didn’t want to give him my bat initially, but somebody brought this bat (from dressing room). I had a feeling that he would pick this bat,” he added.
