Dhawan relishing Bangladesh fans’ pressure

Bangladesh might have been at the receiving end of many close defeats against India, but there has been a sense of intense rivalry between the two neighbouring nations, especially since the Tigers' ODI series triumph in 2015 at home. 

The passion of Bangladesh supporters are well known. That passion is often transmitted to the players, especially when they play at home with a large crowd cheering in the backdrop. 

"You always feel that rivalry against Bangladesh and of course that happens against any team but I feel Bangladeshi people are quite emotional and they really enjoy it and come with intensity," said Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan on Tuesday ahead of the second of the ongoing three-match ODI series. 

India players are also no strangers to such overwhelming support as they, compared to any other team, probably see the most number of fans when playing away from home. And Dhawan mentioned such support from the crowd only helps them focus more on the game. 

"It's good fun and it makes us more intense as well, keeps us on our toes. It's fun and our team likes to play under this sort of intensity as it brings the best out of us. I am very happy to see how Bangladesh people support their team as well as cricket. Very fortunate to see that," Dhawan added.

Bangladesh clinched a thrilling one-wicket win in the first ODI, making it a must-win game for the Rohit Sharma-led India tomorrow in Mirpur. And Dhawan remained confident of making a comeback. 

"We are very confident about tomorrow's game. This is not the first time that we lost the first game of a series. It's quite normal, so we know how to bounce back from these situations. Of course, Bangladesh are playing good cricket as well but if you see the last match, it was quite interesting. 

"It was a low total and in the end, they pulled the game back from us which doesn't happen very often. They played really well so I give credit to them. Where we need improvements were analysed that and rectified in a meeting and will be creating much more impact in the coming matches as well," he said.