Dubai: India’s Shikhar Dhawan insists that his team must remain calm and composed ahead of their semi-final clash against the West Indies on Thursday.
Speaking to the International Cricket Council (ICC) in a video interview ahead of the showdown, Dhawan said: “It’s a great feeling when you know the whole stadium is backing you. All India fans are attached with us and hopefully we can give them happiness.”
On India’s opponents, and the prospect of reaching the final, he said: “The West Indies is one of the greatest sides in T20 cricket. They have got good players, good match-winners; it's going to be a tough game. We are quite positive about ourselves, we're looking forward to some good cricket and will hopefully end on a winning note.
“We all dream about the final. We want to reach it and we want to win the trophy again. But at the same time it is very important as a side to be in the present moment and take one step at a time. It's quite luring to think about the future and go for it. It is very important for us to be calm and composed.”
The West Indies’ Andre Russell is wary of the threat posed by India’s star batsman Virat Kohli.
“Kohli is an amazing player, he plays a brilliant innings, we just have to make sure we expose his weakness and stay away from his strength” he said in the video interview.
“We've played India here [Wankhede Stadium] before, it's going to be noisy but we're accustomed to that. We will block that out of our head and get the job done and do what we have to do” he added.
Thursday’s match begins at 5.30pm UAE time.
