India vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan said that the defending champions will not take Bangladesh lightly in the finals of Asia Cup 2018. Bangladesh beat Pakistan in a sensational contest on Wednesday in a Super Four match to set up a repeat of the 2016 finals. “Even though it is not Pakistan in the final, it changes nothing for us,” Dhawan said in a press conference on the eve of India’s final against Bangladesh.
India vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan said that the defending champions will not take Bangladesh lightly in the finals of Asia Cup 2018. Bangladesh beat Pakistan in a sensational contest on Wednesday in a Super Four match to set up a repeat of the 2016 finals. “Even though it is not Pakistan in the final, it changes nothing for us,” Dhawan said in a press conference on the eve of India’s final against Bangladesh.
“We are not going to take Bangladesh lightly. I think they are a fantastic team. Bangladesh has improved in leaps and bounds over the last few years,’ he added.
Dhawan also stated that the men in blue are unruffled by the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli. “As such, it’s not like there is extra responsibility on us because Virat isn’t there,” Dhawan said.
“This is the kind of tournament where there was an opportunity to test our middle order and identify combinations and players who can play for the future. Virat isn’t there but me and Rohit are there, we play every game like this is a bilateral series or any big game. It feels good to score runs, everyone thinks about consistency,” he explained.
Analyzing the Bangladeshi's the southpaw said, “I guess they’re balanced, know what their strengths are, they’ve improved a lot. They’re a competitive side.”
“Hats off to them, the way they played and won against Pakistan,” he said. “When you play all-round cricket, the results will follow. The plan we made against them in the previous game, we will try and stick to that. The conditions will remain the same, we’ll plan for individuals by looking at videos of their batsmen, revise and prepare accordingly,” Sport star quoted him saying.
“We are not going to take Bangladesh lightly. I think they are a fantastic team. Bangladesh has improved in leaps and bounds over the last few years,’ he added.
Dhawan also stated that the men in blue are unruffled by the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli. “As such, it’s not like there is extra responsibility on us because Virat isn’t there,” Dhawan said.
“This is the kind of tournament where there was an opportunity to test our middle order and identify combinations and players who can play for the future. Virat isn’t there but me and Rohit are there, we play every game like this is a bilateral series or any big game. It feels good to score runs, everyone thinks about consistency,” he explained.
Analyzing the Bangladeshi's the southpaw said, “I guess they’re balanced, know what their strengths are, they’ve improved a lot. They’re a competitive side.”
“Hats off to them, the way they played and won against Pakistan,” he said. “When you play all-round cricket, the results will follow. The plan we made against them in the previous game, we will try and stick to that. The conditions will remain the same, we’ll plan for individuals by looking at videos of their batsmen, revise and prepare accordingly,” Sport star quoted him saying.