The mystery over Rohit Sharma's fitness hangs over Thursday's Indian Premier League Qualifier 1 between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals in Dubai. (FIXTURES & RESULTS)
Rohit Sharma surprised many by deciding to play an inconsequential IPL 2020 league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, knowing fully well that he would be playing a virtual semifinal in two days' time.
At the toss on Tuesday, Rohit said he was "fit and fine" to play and that added more intrigue because BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had only hours ago justified why the Mumbai Indians captain was not selected for the Australian tour on fitness grounds.
The nature of Rohit's dismissal against SRH on Tuesday was very passive. Given his pedigree as a quality strokemaker, Rohit played a half-hearted drive only to hole out at mid-off after playing just seven balls.
Mumbai Indians will count on Rohit's explosive start against Delhi Capitals. In the powerplays, Rohit and Quinton de Kock have provided MI with good starts during the powerplay.
Delhi Capitals veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan feels any dip in form for Rohit is an advantage for DC, gunning for their first IPL title.
"Rohit is a very good player, and he hasn't played many matches so I am not sure about his touch, and that means that we can definitely take advantage of it," Dhawan said on the eve of first qualifier.
"My best wishes to him, but yes as opponents, we can take advantage of that for sure and make plans accordingly."
Shikhar Dhawan does not consider Mumbai Indians as favourites to win Qualifier 1 despite two defeats against them in the tournament.
"I don't think they have an upper hand. We have got a quality team and we know we can beat any team.
"We just have to play good cricket and have to be very clear with our plans. I believe if we manage to do that, we can certainly win," Dhawan said.
Dhawan backs Rahane, Shaw
Dhawan will be central to Delhi's campaign. He has scored back-to-back IPL centuries and a classy fifty in DC's last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The left-hander want to carry the momentum forward in Australia.
"Once you have got good scores, you want to carry that to the next series. I love playing in Australia. It's a great place to play cricket. The pitches are good and I enjoy playing their bowling," Dhawan, who has scored 525 runs in 14 innings so far, said.
"It will be a special series as Indian team will be playing after a long time. I want to showcase my class," said Dhawan, who has two hundreds and two fifties in his last five ODI appearances against Australia.
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Shikhar Dhawan says Ajinkya Rahane adds strength to the Delhi Capitals top order. Photo: BCCI
Dhawan backed his under-fire junior opening partner Prithvi Shaw, who has been in wretched form with sequence of scores in the last six being 4,0, 0, 7, 10 and 9.
"It's not the first time that this (slump in form) has happened to someone and neither will it be the last. He (Shaw) has to stay calm. It happens to everyone. He has been timing the ball well. He needs to stay positive and believe in his abilities," Dhawan said.
Dhawan had a lot of praise for another senior Ajinkya Rahane, who calmly anchored the successful chase against RCB allowing the opener to play attacking cricket.
"Ajinkya brings in a lot of stability. That sort of an experience gives an edge to the side and I can play more freely."
Asked if this is his best season considering the number of runs he scored in UAE, the answer was laced with humour.
"This is not the first time I have scored 500 runs in IPL. I have been scoring nearly 500 runs for the past few seasons (521 in 2019, 497 in 2018, 479 in 2017, 501 in 2016). Yes, this is the first season I have had two hundreds and two ducks, which is something new."
Ponting factor
He was all praise for head coach Ricky Ponting, because of his inclusive nature.
"Having Ricky as coach is a huge advantage. He always backs us with everything, and gives us clarity in difficult situations.
"He is always ready for open chats – he would ask for feedback about the coaching staff also – to get the best out of the team. So he's got great communication with all of us – not just the playing XI, but everyone, and he's been really fantastic for us."
(With inputs from PTI)