Our team is well balanced, and even stronger with Shreyas back: Shikhar Dhawan

Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan is eager to get back to playing the Indian Premier League 2021, which will resume on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dhawan, with 380 runs in eight fixtures, led the run-scoring charts until the season suspension on May 4 due to the emergence of Covid-19 cases inside the bio-secure environment. Much like Dhawan, his team also ruled the points table, sitting atop with 12 points.

“It’s great to be back. There’s a great environment within the team. All the boys are working very hard and I am looking forward to the IPL season. I am very excited to play the upcoming matches,” Dhawan told Delhi Capitals.

“It’s very important to start on a high note. We need to do well from the first match itself and therefore we are working very hard for our first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. We have to bring our hard work into effect during matches and produce great results.”

We have to rebuild our energy and get back on the flow we were in: Shikhar Dhawan

Speaking about the returning Shreyas Iyer, who missed the first half of the tournament owing to a shoulder injury he picked during India’s home series against England, Dhawan said: “The good thing is that our team is well balanced and Shreyas Iyer is back in the side as well, so our team is even stronger now.”

The 35-year-old also pointed out the need to get back their momentum and flow, which each team has lost due to the tournament getting halted midway. “We were in a certain flow in the first half of the season and then that flow was broken once the tournament was suspended. So, we have to rebuild our energy and get back on the flow we were in.

When asked about getting acclimatized to the conditions in the UAE, the opening batsman said. “We’ll beat the heat as well. It takes some time to get used to the humidity here since we were indoors for a while. But we’ve been doing this for so many years so we’ll definitely beat the heat.”