Dhawan celebrates after scoring a century at MCG vs South Africa.
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Shikhar Dhawan set the Melbourne Cricket Ground alight with his heroics against South Africa on Sunday. It was a stunning innings at a historic ground but for the Indian left-handed opener, it was a bit more special. Dhawan's wife, Ayesha Mukherjee, hails from the city of Melbourne. (Complete World Cup Coverage )
Talking exclusively to NDTV, former Indian opener, Sunil Gavaskar quipped that it must be a huge load off Dhawan's back after performing at his in-law's place. However, the Indian legend maintained that Dhawan's knock was very important from the team's perspective. (Don't Remember South Africa Outplayed: Ganguly )
"It was an important knock for the team", said Gavaskar, "Opening the batting, he (Dhawan) laid the foundation. He, along with Virat Kohli, created the platform for Team India to launch the assault on South Africa."
The situation was different a month ago. Dhawan was in wretched form and the Delhi batsman could hardly get the ball off-the-square. There were calls for his exclusion but according to Gavaskar, the team always had faith in the abilities of the hard-hitting left-hander. (Tendulkar Demands More From Team India )
"There were talks outside", said the India veteran, "People outside the team were talking about dropping him but the team management never questioned Dhawan's competence. Especially, in the one day format, Dhawan's place was never in any danger."� (Dhawan Makes up for Lost Time )
Talking about India's superlative display against South Africa, the former India captain was elated and was confident that barring any "accident" India would top their group.
"Never thought it would be a huge win but I was confident that India would do well. After posting a 300 plus score, I thought that India would win by 40-odd runs but to win so huge was unbelievable."
Not only Dhawan, the performances of Mohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane also drew praises from the ex-India great.
"Mohit has all the varieties as a bowler. He can bowl the slowers, the yorkers and most importantly, is a good fielder. In today's age, you can't be a liability on the field."
Gavaskar next, put his Mumbaikar hat on. He complimented Rahane for his consistent displays and marked him as the "next big Mumbai batsman".
India take on the United Arab Emirates next on February 28.
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