India’s ODI opener Shikhar Dhawan feels the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League will be like a “homecoming” for him as he had returned to the home franchise after a decade. Dhawan played for the Delhi Daredevils in the first edition of the cash-rich league. Dhawan was also Delhi’s third-highest run-getter with 340 runs in 14 matches at an impressive average of 37.77.
In IPL 2018, Dhawan played for SunRisers Hyderabad. However, SunRisers Hyderabad swapped Shikhar Dhawan with Delhi Capitals in favour of three players – Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma in the transfer window.
“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.”
Shikhar Dhawan is expected to open the innings for Delhi Capitals in the forthcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL 2019).