India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who hit a match-winning 98 in the first ODI against England, in Pune on Tuesday, after warming the bench for the major part of the T20 series, says international cricket is all about pressure, and, as an experienced player, he knows how to handle it.
Having lost his place in the T20 eleven, Dhawan was under pressure to perform in the opening ODI with India spoilt for choice in all batting positions.
"(In) international cricket, pressure is always there and the thing is, as a, experienced player, I know how to handle pressure.
"...and secondly, as I said, I am an experienced player, so I know what shots to play on certain wickets and we read the wicket nicely and communicate very nicely in the batting unit. That’s what we did and that worked for us,” he said, at the virtual post-match press conference.
Dhawan, who was benched after the first T20 of the five-match series, explained how he kept himself positive.
"I was focusing on my process, fitness, skill-work, gym-work and I always stay in a positive mental space. I always try and look at positives from every situation. That's what I was doing. I was confident with my batting. I knew that if I get an opportunity, I'll take it," the elegant left-hander added.
Dhawan also said that wicket at the MCA stadium on Tuesday was seaming and swinging.
"It was seaming and swinging, so it wouldn't have made any sense if you would have gone hard at the start, losing two-three wickets. So our plan was just stay on the wicket and respect the good deliveries. We knew that we can always cash those runs later on."
