Rishi Dhawan rides on fresh outlook

Dhawan rides on fresh outlook
Rishi Dhawan, the Kings XI Punjab allrounder, said the strategy of treating each over as a separate session of play had helped him take the important wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson to guide his side to a 16-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Mohali on Friday. Chasing 180, Royals were 56 for 1 in eight overs before Dhawan, bowling his third over of the match, dismissed Rahane and Watson off successive balls. In the over preceding his double-strike, Dhawan had conceded 13 runs to Rahane and Sanju Samson and said a "fresh outlook" had helped him bounce back quickly.

"When you get hit for 10-12 runs in an over, it plays on your mind. Moreover, by the time you come on to bowl another over, the batsmen are so much more well set, and because the ball is older, the run-flow opens up," he told iplT20.com. "I think in such a scenario what is most important is your mental makeup. You don't need to go in with a drastically different game plan - only with an uncluttered mind and confidence.

"In T20, it is sometimes best to consider every over a session. If the batsman won the first session, you try and pull things back in the next. Ajinkya and Sanju played me well in my second over and scored the boundaries. But when I went in to bowl my third over, I went with a fresh outlook. I bowled well and won that session."

Watson's mea culpa
Their defeat to Kings XI Punjab has left Rajasthan Royals still unsure of a playoff spot and Royals captain Shane Watson accepted responsibility for his side's 16-run loss. Watson was dismissed for a first-ball duck by Rishi Dhawan and Royals eventually fell short despite brisk knocks from Brad Hodge and James Faulkner at the end.

"We did not execute things right. It was a very good wicket," Watson said. "I'm a culprit for losing my wicket. Jimmy [James Faulkner] and Hodgy [Brad Hodge] did a great job to get us close. Jimmy has been incredible with the ball and bat for the last 12 months."

De Lange looks up to Malinga
Lasith Malinga's departure for national duty has made Mumbai Indians test their other overseas bowlers - West Indies' Krishmar Santokie and South Africa's Marchant de Lange. Despite his absence, though, Malinga was still inspiring Mumbai's quicks, especially de Lange, who took 2 for 32 in his first game of the season, against Delhi Daredevils.

"I have not been training with him a lot in the nets, but I have been speaking a lot to him about the game off the field. He has brilliant knowledge and is an unbelievable cricketer. He is really like a mentor to all the young bowlers in the Mumbai Indians," de Lange told iplt20.com. "My goal is to be like Lasith Malinga, who is one of the best death bowlers in the world. I would also love to become better while bowling at the start of the innings. I want to work on my opening bowling, when only two fielders are outside the circle. As a cricketer, I still have a lot to learn and grow."