Team Delhi's advisor Sourav Ganguly described Shikhar Dhawan as one of the best opening batsmen in the world and revealed that his franchise was 'desperate' to rope in the left-hander after he left Team Hyderabad last season.
Back with his home city after being traded with Vijay Shankar, Shabaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma, the India opener regained his touch to smash an unbeaten 97 from 63 balls to script Delhi's seven-wicket win over Team Kolkata on Friday night. "Probably he's one of the best opening batsmen in the world. We were desperate for Shikhar Dhawan when we heard that he's going to leave Hyderabad. Good that he is coming off.
"It is an important phase of the tournament. It's good to see Shikhar get a good score with the tournament entering the second phase," Ganguly said at the post-match press conference.
"It was more like a Shikhar Dhawan innings once he gets set, he takes the game away. He is a class act. He plays exactly the same way when he plays for India. He’s been scoring consistently in the shorter format in international cricket," he added.
Chasing 179 for victory, Dhawan was however denied a maiden T20 century after Colin Ingram hit the winning runs with a six off Piyush Chawla to seal the win with seven balls to spare. "Hundreds are not always possible in T20 cricket. The important thing is to win the match."
Speaking about the upcoming World Cup, Ganguly pointed out that Dhawan was adjudged Best Batsman during India's runners-up finish at the Champions Trophy 2017 in England.
"World Cup is a different format but Shikhar plays very well in England. He is a fantastic one-day cricketer. He will do well in the World Cup. He was the batsman of the series in the Champions Trophy," said the former left-handed batsman.
