‘Calm and Composed like Dhoni’: Kamran Akmal heaps praises on Shikhar Dhawan’s captaincy

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has impressed one and all with his leadership skills in the ongoing limited-overs fixtures against Sri Lanka.

In the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are in the United Kingdom (UK) preparing for the Test leg against England, Dhawan was handed over the responsibility to lead the side. The Delhi-lad did a tremendous job while captaining the team full of young and aspiring cricketers.

The white-ball tour started with the One-Day International (ODI) series, which the visiting side won by 2-1. Dhawan led from the front and finished the ODI leg as the second-highest run-getter. He made 128 runs from three matches at a brilliant average of 64.

Dhawan’s actions on the field, his bowling changes, and the trust showed in youngsters have become the talk of the town. In the third ODI, as many as five players debuted in the 50-over format under his leadership. In a recently concluded T20I series opener, Dhawan played a knock of 46 runs to help his side register a comprehensive victory.

Speaking about Dhawan’s sensational display of captaincy, senior Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal has showered praiseworthy comments on the Indian skipper. In his latest YouTube video, Akmal lauded Dhawan for his decision-making ability in crunch situations. The Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman reckoned he saw shades of former India skipper MS Dhoni in Dhawan’s captaincy.

“Shikhar Dhawan’s captaincy in the first T20I was really good. The bowling changes and field placings were impressive. Dhawan seems like a cool captain. In fact, I can see shades of MS Dhoni in Dhawan’s calm and composed captaincy,” said Akmal.

“He took excellent decisions under pressure and did not panic even after Sri Lanka got off to a quick start. To win by 38 runs after the Lankans were 20 for no loss after two overs was an excellent effort, and Dhawan must get some credit for it. Of course, the bowlers were also brilliant,” he added.

Akmal further appreciated India’s bowling attack that successfully defended the 164-run total in the first T20I on Sunday. He lavished praise on senior India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and termed him as a ‘class’ bowler.

“Vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought all his experience into play. He is a class bowler. A target of 165 is very much attainable in today’s T20 cricket, but India’s bowling was top-notch, and Sri Lanka’s batting could not stand up to the challenge,” Akmal added further.

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