India opener Shikhar Dhawan has issued warning to teammates ahead of Asia Cup final and said that the team cannot commit the mistake of taking Bangladesh lightly in the title clash, on Friday.
Bangladesh stunned Pakistan by 37 runs in the Super Four clash to set up a date with India in the final and Dhawan feels that they have to be on the top of their game if India are to beat their Asian rivals and clinch record seven titles.
“All the teams in the tournament have been very competitive. Everyone was thinking that India and Pakistan will meet in the final but Bangladesh beat them by playing good cricket ,” Dhawan told reporters on the eve of the final.
“We cannot take them lightly because Pakistan is a bigger name but Bangladesh got the better of them. There is a big difference between a team on paper and players playing on the ground. So the team which plays better on the field, they are regarded as the bigger team,” he added.
This will be the second time this year that the two teams will meet in the final of a tournament. Earlier, India beat Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final and when asked about Bangladesh’s choking habits in big matches, Dhawan jumped to their defence and praised the ‘Bangla Tigers’ for playing good consistent cricket.
“You can see that they have a good support staff and they play good consistent cricket. And now, they will be competing in the Asia Cup final. They have got many experienced players in the side who know their role and play according to the strategy. Their players know how to play under pressure and they no longer have problems playing against the big teams,” Dhawan said.
“Bangladesh have been playing cricket only for 18 years and so, it takes time (to win finals). Sometimes, it takes teams so much time to even reach the final. There are two ways of looking at things. Although, I would want India to win the match tomorrow (Friday) but I believe that we will see Bangladesh crossing the line soon, as far as winning titles is concerned.”
Dhawan also played down the absence of Virat Kohli and said that it hasn’t changed the team’s style of play . The southpaw said that the idea was to find players for the future and give players in the middle-order opportunity to show what they can do.
“We (Rohit and Dhawan) haven’t been thinking on the lines that Virat Kohli is not there so we have to take more responsibility. We thought that we can give more batsmen an opportunity to showcase their talents, especially in the middle-order,” Dhawan quipped.
“Things doesn’t change for us because of the absence of Virat. We try to give in our best whenever and wherever we are playing. It feels nice to get some runs under the belt and every player wants to be as consistent as possible,” he added.
In the absence of Kohli, Rohit Sharma had been entrusted with the job of leading the side in UAE while his partner Dhawan was made his deputy. The southpaw made it clear that he doesn’t take any unnecessary pressure with this added responsibility and said that he will always stick to his style of playing.
“There is no pressure of vice-captaincy on me. All the pressure is on our captain (laughs), I am just enjoying my time as the vice-captain of the team. As far as my batting is concerned, it remains the same. I won’t change my game just because I have been made the vice-captain,” Dhawan said.
