Himachal Pradesh skipper Rishi Dhawan hailed his team’s combined efforts after leading the side to their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title on Sunday (December 26) in Jaipur, saying a lot of hard work had been done behind the scenes and the victory was the result of that.
In the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, Himachal Pradesh had a great start against Tamil Nadu, as the bowlers scalped four wickets for just 40 runs inside 15 overs, but Dinesh Karthik’s century (116) and Baba Indrajith's 80 took the opposition to 314 on the board at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on Sunday.
Himachal Pradesh opener Shubham Arora showed a lot of grit and determination to remain unbeaten at 136 to help the side chase down the revised target of 289 to win the game by 11 runs and the Vijay Hazare Trophy title on Sunday in Jaipur.
After the victory, Himachal Pradesh skipper Dhawan, who contributed an unbeaten 42, hailed the team efforts and thanked the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) for making all the facilities available for players to get better and the team management and support staff.
Dhawan said: “It was long pending and we've finally done it. Really happy. We had played a few games here, so we knew that the pitch was good and the outfield was very quick, so if we batted deep, we could chase it down. I was telling Shubham not to take any pressure, just get a single and I'll handle the pressure. Feeling really good. There is a lot of hard work involved in this. Also, the administration has improved the facilities in the last few years, which has also helped us a lot. It's a combined effort.”
Arora signed off by saying, “Credit to the management and support staff, they backed me through the tournament. They allowed me to play my natural game. The plan was to maximize the powerplay and I played my game. It worked and then I just built my innings from thereon. When I got to my hundred, I was determined to stay till the end.”
(With ANI Inputs)
