South Africa vs India 2nd ODI: Beautiful feeling to be back in the team, looking to bat deep - Shikhar Dhawan

South Africa vs India 2nd ODI: Opener Shikhar Dhawan said that being able to play for India after a long gap brought more confidence and clarity for him and that the wicket in Paarl for the first ODI against South Africa was similar to what is found in Asia.

India opener Shikhar Dhawan said that the visitors will be looking to bat deep and have bigger partnerships in Paarl during the second ODI against South Africa. The first ODI was played in the same venue and Dhawan, who scored 79 in what was his first international match in nearly six months, said that the conditions were similar to what would be found in Asia, although India lost the game by 31 runs.

"It was a beautiful feeling to be back in the Indian side, looking forward to do well and win the game," Dhawan told the host broadcasters before the start of the second ODI.

"It's more of an Asian wicket, less bounce and it was turning as well. We knew we had to built partnerships and take it deep and it won't be easier for the new batters coming in," he said.

India made a strong start to the match bowling first but were then pegged back by a 204-run partnership between South Africa captain Temba Bavuma and Rassie Van der Dussen. Chasing a target of 297, India looked to be on track during Dhawan's 92-run stand with Virat Kohli. However, India collapsed after his dismissal, going from 138/2 to 214/8.

"It is very important to take wickets in the middle overs and that's part of the learning, you come with new plans and at the same time we lost too many wickets and especially on these sort of tracks it is important to build partnerships. Just need to do the basics well and we hope we are gonna do that today," said Dhawan.