"Boys Didn't Lose Self-belief...": Elated India Captain Shikhar Dhawan Says This After Series Win vs West Indies
Half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson and Axar Patel helped Team India win the second ODI of the three-match series against West Indies by two wickets at Queens Park Oval stadium in Port of Spain on Sunday.
India skipper Shikhar Dhawan praised his team's performance after registering a two-wicket win over West Indies in the second ODI. Half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson and Axar Patel helped Team India win the second ODI of the three-match series against West Indies by two wickets at Queens Park Oval stadium in Port of Spain on Sunday. "It was a great team performance. Boys didn't lose the self-belief, that is amazing. Iyer, Sanju, Axar everyone was amazing, Even Avesh came out in his debut game and scored those 11 important runs. Thanks to IPL, they perform on a huge stage. I felt that we bowled nicely," said Dhawan in a post-match presentation.
"They got off to a good start. Hope and Pooran batted well. We thought if they could do it, we knew that we could do it. We started a little slow. Shubman batted well. The Iyer-Samson partnership made a huge difference. There was a run-out. But these things happen. Boys are learning," he added.
The skipper further congratulated his rival batter Shai Hope for scoring a ton in his 100th ODI game.
"It was a great feeling when I scored a 100 in my 100th ODI game. I would want to congratulate Hope for doing the same," said Dhawan.
Hope became the tenth batter in the world and the fourth West Indies batter to score a century in the 100th ODI match.
He has joined the company of players like Gordon Greenidge, Chris Cairns, Mohammad Yousuf, Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Gayle, Marcus Trescothick, Ramnaresh Sarwan, David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan, who have scored centuries in their 100th ODI.
Coming to the match, struggling at 79/3, a 99-run stand between Shreyas Iyer (63) and Samson (54) provided stability to their innings.
In the end contributions from Deepak Hooda (33) and Axar Patel (64*) proved to be extremely vital in taking the visitors to a win. West Indies lost control of the match despite sending back the top order in the early stages of the match and despite posting a huge total on the board themselves.
India has now taken a winning 2-0 lead in the series. Both the teams will now square off for the third ODI on Wednesday.
India Cricket Team
West Indies Cricket Team
Shikhar Dhawan