Dhawan: Conditions and pitches will be crucial during South Africa series

Dhawan: Conditions and pitches will be crucial during South Africa series: Opener Shikhar Dhawan is in the right frame of mind and is looking forward to the upcoming series against South Africa. “I think there is always a home advantage, like we have spin-friendly pitches. Even when we played Australia and West Indies, we played on turners. I guess it is like that because it is very hot in India. The wicket will hold for two days before the pitches start turning. That is the nature of wickets in India. I think we will get to see the same situation even this time,” Dhawan told Cricket Country.

The opener will look to continue his good run after a successful world cup campaign to go with consecutive centuries. Dhawan has started preparing for the all important series and believes the preparatory camp will help him plan accordingly.

“I have played against them, I have played with them. Of course, they are one of the best sides in the world and it is always going to be a challenge for us. The good thing is we are playing in India and will have home advantage. I am yet to see the bowling videos. Once I go for the preparatory camp and once the series starts, I will watch the videos and will observe their strengths and weaknesses. According to that, I will make my plans,” Dhawan added.

He was quick to play this question on his experience playing under M.S.Dhoni and Virat Kohli with a straight bat. He said that, “It is a great honour for me to play under Dhoni bhai because he is one of the greatest Indian captains and a great human being. I have played under him for two-three years now. Dhoni bhai has always been the Captain Cool. Virat, on the other hand, is an aggressive captain but in a good way”

The tour kicks off on 2nd October with the two sides meeting for the first T20I at Dharamsala.