Mohali: Shikhar Dhawan has made a stupendous start to his Test career but the opener will face a sterner test in future since he has raised his own expectations with his fabulous batting on debut, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Monday. The Delhi southpaw smashed a blistering 187, the fastest century on debut in the history of Test history, to set the platform for India`s six-wicket win in the third Test which ended here on Monday.
"He has got off to a good start. It does not matter how well you have played in domestic cricket. In that first game, you are nervous, but I think he handled that well. But the coming days will be slightly tougher in the sense that he has raised his own expectations," Dhoni said after India took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. Asked whether the series-win was a sweet revenge for the bashing India had received Down Under, Dhoni said: "We don`t think about revenge in sport. We have exploited the conditions well. Even the fast bowlers have done well despite conditions helping spinners. (Ravindra) Jadeja`s inclusion has helped. It meant we were playing with five specialist bowlers. Everyone contributed in some way, (Murali) Vijay was excellent," Dhoni added.
Talking about Dhawan and Vijay`s 289-run opening stand in India`s first innings score of 499, Dhoni said, "It was one of the best batting exhibitions by Vijay and Dhawan when it comes to batting in pairs." Dhoni also said that Bhuvneshwar Kumar`s three-wicket bust early in Australia`s second innings yesterday set the stage for India`s win. He also hinted that with series in pocket India "may try a few things in Delhi" but remained non-committal.
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 18, 2013, 22:57