Reflecting on his interaction with Suryakumar Yadav, Dhawan shared his eagerness to learn and embrace new techniques. The Indian opener believes that carrying a diverse array of shots adds to a player's toolkit and eases the challenges faced on the field.
"Even like... we’ve been playing for such a long time, we get so inspired by all the young players when they come up with some new shots, and personally I ask ‘how you played that?’"
"I was asking SKY, he hits that six and I asked him ‘What do you do, man?’. So he was like, ‘I just bend and I do this’. I said I am going to try that in the nets as well because the more tools you can carry, it gets easier and it’s a wonderful mindset."
Comparing the present-day approach to the past, Dhawan emphasized the change in the mindset of young players. While traditional coaching once emphasized playing down the ground, the modern generation is unafraid to express themselves on the field.
Dhawan marveled at how youngsters fearlessly seize opportunities and play their natural game without apprehension. The absence of guilt after an unconventional dismissal reflects the newfound confidence in young players, which Dhawan believes is the most significant change in the game.
“The thought process is getting broader. Earlier our coaches used to tell us to play down the ground, you don’t have to play big shots. So, we were raised with that sort of mindset but now when you see a youngster coming in, they will just go and express themselves,”
“So, again, the main point is when I see the younger generation, they express themselves fearlessly. Where else, we also express ourselves but we had that thing because we were mentally trained that we have to play more on the ground but the new generation, they play and they express themselves very nicely and they don’t feel that guilt as well that 'I got out this way or that way', so I feel that is the biggest change we have seen and it’s amazing,” he added.
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