Having played a key role in India’s dominating performance in the first one-dayer against Sri Lanka, Shikhar Dhawan said the 169-run win here on Sunday would give the team huge confidence going forward in the five-match series.
“It’s a very good feeling that it was our first match (of the series) and we won it with a big margin. It gives a lot of confidence to the team and It’s also good to see openers putting up a 200-run partnership,” he said.
His start to the innings was a bit tentative and was even dropped early. “At the start it (pitch) was seaming and swinging a bit, it wasn’t an easy like the usual Indian wicket. That’s why we gave ourselves a little bit of time to settle down and make the ball bit old. Once that phase was over, we took charge.” Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews felt his batsmen, especially the openers, should have played more positively.
“All batsmen should have approached the same way,” he said, pointing to the way Mahela Jayawardene (43 off 36) played. “We needed to make a move in the chase but we couldn’t and that was the downfall for us. Our batsmen's approach has to be positive and trying to score runs all the while.”
Injury scare for Aaron
Varun Aaron suffered a right quadracep injury on Sunday and the extent of the injury isn’t known yet. The right-arm quick walked off after bowling 4.1 overs during Lankan chase and never returned to the field. Indian team media manager Dr RN Baba said the pacer’s injury will be investigated on Monday before taking a call.
