He is a very chilled out captain, says Shikhar Dhawan on Rohit Sharma

The Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has praised the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma for leading the side well in the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka. The series is locked at 1-1 after the first two matches and the decider is all set to be played in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. India are the firm favourites to win the series but they might not want to take the tourists lightly ahead of the decider. However, Dhawan has termed Rohit as a very chilled out skipper who always tells them to keep the basics right.

Sri Lanka surprised India in the first ODI in helpful conditions and bundled them out for just 112 runs in the first game at Dharamsala. They chased down the total with six wickets to spare and arrested their string of losses in the format. The Men in Blue came back strongly in the must-win encounter in Mohali on the back of a sensational double hundred from their skipper Rohit Sharma. India won the match by a whopping 141 runs and levelled the series.

I always enjoy coming here

Shikhar Dhawan was excited that the decider was being played in Visakhapatnam and hoped he plays well in the last game of the series. “I’ve always loved coming back to Vizag. Very beautiful city, very clean city and of course the property in which we are living, it has the sea in front of us, it’s beautiful. And of course I did well in the Deodhar Trophy as you said and after that there was a drastic change in my career. As they say, Vizag is a city of destiny isn’t it? It has been good for me and I always enjoy coming here,” he told reporters ahead of the final game on Sunday.

Speaking about the series decider, Dhawan said, “Of course there is pressure whenever you play a final (decider), there is pressure but we are used to it and there is going to be a big crowd tomorrow. We are a strong side and we believe in our ability and our skill, we are going to go out and play it like any other game, just do the basics right.” The 32-year-old praised Rohit for his cool captaincy and cleared that all the players are aware of their roles in the team.

“He has only been captain for two matches but I’ve known Rohit from a long time and I know what his character is like. He is a very chilled out captain and tells us to keep the basics right, we all know our roles, we just have to give our best and hats off to him for the way he performed in the last game. Very happy about it,” Gabbar signed off.

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