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Facing Rashid at Sunrisers was an advantage: Dhawan
The IPL clearly has its advantages and Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan admits that he has been a direct beneficiary of facing Afghanistan star spinner Rashid Khan at the Sunrisers Hyderabad nets for the past two years.
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Dhawan smashed his way to a 96-ball-107 and was especially severe on Rashid during his first session century as India finished the day at 347 for 6 on the first day of the historic one-off Test.
“One thing (advantage) is that I have faced him (Rashid) in the nets for the past two years as we play for the same IPL team. I am used to his bowling and that was an advantage for sure. It helped me,” Dhawan said at the post-match press conference.
Dhawan was happy that he won the battle against his Sunrisers teammate but at the same time expected Rashid to become a better Test match bowler with all the lessons that he would learn from this game.
“They came back very well in the final session and I am sure they are going to learn a lot of things and go a long way ahead. Of course, I enjoyed my battle with Rashid and I am happy that I dominated. But he is a great bowler and on his day, he will take some serious wickets,” Dhawan praised the young Afghan star.
He became the first Indian to score a hundred in the first session of a Test match and he didn't know about it till he came back to the dressing room. “It feels great. I didn't know about the record till I came back into the dressing room at lunch where it showed on TV.”
While he came down the track to the spinners, the batsmen coming later didn't do that. Dhawan refused to blame them.
“Every player has his own game and a team is made up of different characters. My game is different from Vijay's. Each one of us has different qualities. There are a few who love to step out and hit while a few play spinners from within the crease. Each one has his own plan. My strength is to step out and I played accordingly.”
For Dhawan, attack is the best form of defence and he went with the flow from the start of the innings.
“I have full faith in my process and if you look at my earlier Test matches in Sri Lanka (barring the odd failure in Cape Town), I play with the same positive mindset. I was in good touch during IPL and wanted to continue with it,” Dhawan concluded.
Dhawan first Indian batsman to score century before lunch
Shikhar Dhawan became the first Indian player to score a century in Test cricket before lunch, joining an esteemed list of former cricketers, including the legendary Don Bradman.
The explosive Indian opener hammered 19 fours and three sixes as he reached his century off 91 balls on the opening day of the historic India-Afghanistan test match at Chinnaswamy stadium here. He became the sixth player in the world to score a century before lunch.
Last year, Australia's dashing opener David Warner scored 100 not out before lunch against Pakistan. Other five players who achieved this milestone in the past are Victor Trumper (103 not out before lunch) against England in 1902, Charlie Macartney (112 not out) against England in 1926, Bradman (105 not out) against England in 1930, Majid Khan (108 not out) against New Zealand in 1976.
Before Dhawan, the previous record for best score for India in the first session was held by Virender Sehwag, who had scored 99 runs in St Lucia against West Indies in 2006. It was Dhawan's seventh Test century in 30 matches.
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