Shikhar Dhawan on T20 World Cup: My job is to just play well

Pune There have been battles within battles in Indian cricket intense rivalry for one vacant spot over the yearsThe current one between senior pro Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul seven years younger to the Delhi fellowopener appears to be yet another growing chapter in that long listBoth are vying for one of the two openers slots going into the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and both cracked half centuries in the T20 seriesending clash against Sri Lanka at the MCA Stadium in Gahunje here on Friday night to intensify the rivalryKarnatakas Rahul has overshadowed Dhawan in the shortest format of the game of late with scores of 62 11 and 91 in the previous series against the West Indies in December and a quickfire 45 in Indore in the second T20 International against Sri Lanka on January 7 after the series opener had been washed out by rain at Guwahati He also made 6 102 and 77 in the ODIs against the Caribbean outfit to retain his wonderful form in limited overs cricketDhawan under some sort of pressure and coming into this series after recovering from an injury sustained in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy prior to the Windies series that he missed had made a more sedate 32 in Indore Rahul rocketed off in his style on Friday with a flurry of offside fours and Shikhar got a lucky break when he was dropped at deep square a difficult chance when on one before opening out with bottom handed shots to blaze his way to 54 in 36 balls while Rahul scored 52 in the same number of ballsWith Rohit Sharma rested for the series against Lanka set to be the number one opener going ahead towards the T20 World Cup event the second slot is a tossup between Rahul and DhawanHow tough is this opening slot competition was the question put to Dhawan in the post match media conferenceAll the three players are doing well Rohit had an excellent 2019 Rahul has been doing good since onetwo months and he is a good player and I have also entered the fray and have done well today said Dhawan in his replyThe fray is heating up but this is not my headache So I dont think about it because that thing is not in my hands it is in my hands to perform and play well and I am happy and satisfied that I got two opportunities and was able to express myself The rest is up to the coaches and the captain why should I share their headache he addedHe also admitted that his lefthandedness gave him a clear advantage Absolutely that is advantageous because it disturbs the bowlers line and length and it has its own impact was how he put it aptlyDhawan said he had prepared well after recovering from his injury by playing in the Ranji Trophy It wasnt difficult to come back because I knew I was injured and out for a month And I accepted that I got injured and I couldnt do much about it I was happy enjoying my time doing my rehab and focused on training that time and got myself fitter and stronger Later I prepared myself at the NCA went and played Ranji Trophy and did very well out there said the Delhi stalwart who has already played in 61 T20Is and amassed 1588 runsCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates