Hyderabad, Oct 14 (IANS) India all-rounder Naman Dhir is keen to establish himself as a genuine all-rounder but admitted that contributing with the bat remains his immediate priority, while stressing that the hosts cannot afford to be complacent despite holding a 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series against the West Indies.
Speaking ahead of the fourth T20I, Dhir acknowledged the threat posed by the visitors in the shortest format and said India would need to maintain the same intensity that helped them secure a 14-run victory in the previous match at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
“West Indies obviously are a very dangerous team, especially in this format. The learning would be that you can’t be complacent at any stage of the series. Yes, we are 2-1 up, but we’ll still play the game with the same intensity,” Dhir said.
The 26-year-old has made a valuable contribution with the ball in the series, emerging as India’s leading wicket-taker with five scalps. Interestingly, each of his wickets has come after he conceded a six, a statistic the all-rounder hopes to change in the upcoming contest.
“I hope this time I won’t concede a six before getting a wicket. I didn’t know that I am the highest wicket-taker till now in this series. I have a lot of learnings. I’ve been talking to Gautam (Gambhir) sir and every other coach. So they are talking to me about a few aspects of bowling,” he said.
Dhir also underlined his ambition to develop into a genuine all-rounder, though he would prefer to make a bigger impact with the bat at this stage of his career.
“No, I definitely want to be a genuine all-rounder, but at the time I prefer that I should score more with the bat. I had the opportunity in the last game. But, yeah, I’m happy that we ended up on the winning side,” he added.
India head into the fourth T20I with the aim of consolidating their lead following their defense of a total of 223, which saw them beat the West Indies by 14 runs in Indore. The vital 69 runs that Abhishek Sharma scored off just 30 balls set the platform for India’s total, though a slowdown in the second half left the home side with a difficult task ahead.
The visitors were in a good position throughout their chase, after Shimron Hetmyer scored 43 and Kamil Pooran reached 42. Yet Arshdeep Singh’s three-wicket stand and Dhir’s two wickets enabled India to regain control and kept the West Indies within 209, all while Shamar Springer scored 35 runs without losing a wicket off only 11 deliveries towards the end.
The victory was India’s first while batting first in the white-ball series and gave them a crucial 2-1 lead ahead of the Hyderabad encounter.
Dhir also expressed confidence about playing at the venue, pointing to the dimensions of the ground compared to Indore, where India secured their previous win.
“If you see the ground of Indore, it was pretty smaller than that. So I’m a little more confident than in Indore from the last game,” he said.
–IANS
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