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'Why should I tell him about my weakness? I've to play WC here': Ex-DC coach recalls Dhawan-Stoinis incident in IPL 2021
The former Delhi Capitals coach recalled a story from previous year's IPL, as he shared a practice match conversation between Marcus Stoinis and Shikhar Dhawan.
In the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League, Shikhar Dhawan (Punjab Kings) and Marcus Stoinis (Gujarat Titans) might be playing for different franchises; however, both used to share the same dressing room over the past few seasons for the Delhi Capitals. Both, Dhawan and Stoinis were key to DC's run to the final of the 2020 edition of the tournament, where the side faced a defeat to Mumbai Indians. In the previous season, both stepped up again as the Capitals reached the playoffs.
Former India batter Mohammed Kaif was the assistant coach of the Delhi Capitals over the past two seasons and on Thursday, the 41-year-old shared a hilarious incident involving Dhawan and Stoinis during the 2021 edition of the tournament. The previous season took place in two phases; first in India and the second in the United Arab Emirates.
Kaif recalled a practice game that took place ahead of the resumption of the season in the UAE, where Stoinis and Dhawan were involved in a conversation. The former DC assistant coach revealed how Dhawan dodged a question from Stoinis that could have potentially revealed his weakness to the Aussie bowler.
"There was this practice game going on last year. Stoinis was bowling with the new ball and Dhawan was on strike. Dhawan took a single and I was umpiring. So when Dhawan came to the other end, Stoinis asked him, "Should I change my field placement for you? Should I keep the fine leg up against you?"
"Shikhar said, "no, this is fine. This is a very good field." Then Shikhar turned to me and said, "Why should I tell him about my weakness? I have to play the World Cup in UAE. Why should I discuss my weakness with the bowlers?" recalled Kaif on Sportskeeda.
“I realised that even when these guys play together, no one wants to discuss their weakness. He eventually didn't tell him where to set the field. I did make me realise how smart a batter is,” Kaif further added.
Dhawan was bought by the Punjab Kings for INR 8.25 crore in the Indian Premier League mega auction in February. Stoinis, meanwhile, was signed by the Titans ahead of the auction in January.
