During his knock of 96 against South Africa, Sachin Dhas played a few sumptuous pull shots. The short-arm jabs against Riley Norton prompted former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop to compare him with Shubman Gill.
No one plays this shot (short-arm jabs) better than Shubman Gill but Sachin Dhas has been imperious as well,’ Bishop said in commentary.
Gill has developed the shot from his early years of playing on a cement pitch. But in Dhas’ case, it comes from the back-foot preference and an upright stance, the kind of game that comes when a batsman can trust the bounce. It has also been developed through throw-downs from his coach Sheikh Azhar and father Sanjay Dhas with an iron plate placed at the good-length area.
Sanjay says the knock of 96 was much better than the century Sachin scored against Nepal.
‘South Africa’s pace attack was the best of the tournament. The match was gone, but for the way he batted with Uday. He showed composure but kept playing shots as well,’ says Sanjay.
Meanwhile, coach Azhar says his ward was getting frustrated at not getting to face more balls in the U-19 World Cup. Till the match against Nepal, the middle-order batsman had not faced more than 20 balls in an inning in the tournament.
‘He has always batted at No.4, but here he was given a different role. He wanted to play up the order, so he was a little frustrated. But after the Nepal game, when he called me, he was relieved. He told me ‘Sir, runs aa gaye ab knockouts mey bhi acha karuna (I have got the runs under my belt now and I will do well in the knockout as well),” says Azhar.