AFP, Hamilton :
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni saluted Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form after the opener smashed his second World Cup hundred in Tuesday’s eight-wicket win over Ireland.
Dhawan hit an 85-ball 100 with five sixes and 11 boundaries to anchor India’s 260-run chase in 36.5 overs at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
That gave India a fifth straight win to ensure top spot in Pool B and a quarter-final match-up against the fourth-placed finishers in Pool A, a position currently occupied by Bangladesh.
Dhawan, who also smashed 137 in the win over South Africa, had suffered a wretched bout of form at the tri-nations series leading up to the World Cup, scoring just two, one, eight and 38.
“It is important to back your players,” said Dhoni.
“We try to do it and I felt that though he had a tough series, I felt we had put a lot of effort into him.
“We always believed in him. But the final step that needs to be taken is from the individual, and I felt he prepared well for these ODIs, and it obviously takes time.”
Dhoni said Dhawan was capitalising on his good starts in the five World Cup matches where the defending champions have barely broken sweat.
