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IPL 2019: It will be homecoming for me with Delhi Capitals - Shikhar Dhawan

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByHT Correspondent
Feb 21, 2019 01:22 PM IST

Sunrisers Hyderabad swapped Shikhar Dhawan with Delhi Capitals in favour of three players – Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma.

Indian cricket team opener Shikhar Dhawan believes that it will be ‘homecoming’ for him when he represents Delhi Capitals in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019. The left-hander played for the Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2008 and was their third-highest run-getter with 340 runs in 14 matches at an average of 37.77.

Ahead of the new season, Sunrisers Hyderabad swapped Shikhar Dhawan with Delhi Capitals in favour of three players – Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma.

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“Ghar wapasi ho gayi hai ji meri, (It is a homecoming for me) This is where I grew up. So, it’s good to come back. On the cricket front, it’s good that I will be playing half my games at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground and I have played there for so many years that I know the ground and the pitches there,” Dhawan told Times of India.

“I’m adjusting well to it actually. I’m bringing 11 years of experience. I was a rookie back then. learnt lots of stuff from all the senior players- AB de Villiers, Viru bhai, Gauti bhai, (Glenn) McGrath, Daniel Vettori. I remember all of them.”

Earlier, Dhawan said that according to him, IPL is the best thing that has happened to Indian cricket as it opens up opportunities for youngsters to brush shoulders with the legends of the game.

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“The first year I played for Delhi franchise, I shared the dressing room with them and it was a really big deal for me. Just spending time with them was great and that increased my confidence level,” Dhawan told CricketNext.

“When I joined Mumbai Indians, I got the chance to open with Sachin paaji (Tendulkar). Even with Deccan Chargers, I played with (Kumar) Sangakkara and when I scored more runs than him, step by step it gave me confidence,”

“That’s why I feel that our youngsters are so confident because they have got big exposure and it helps a lot. They bring that experience in the Indian team like Kuldeep (Yadav) has done as well as (Yuzvendra) Chahal,” he added.

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