Dhawan hit 10 fours in his 53-ball knock before retiring not out in a thrilling warm-up game against South Africa, which India lost by four runs.
Chasing a stiff 197, India made a bold bid riding on Dhawan’s innings and his 94-run partnership (off 9.4 overs) with Suresh Raina (41 retired not out off 26 balls).
Needing 14 off the last over bowled by Chris Morris, Yuvraj Singh (16 not out off eight balls) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30 not out off 16 balls) could only muster nine runs as India finished on 192 for three.
Although he ended up on the losing side, Dhawan believes it was a perfect workout for him and the team.
“It was a good learning for me because I got to bat until the 16th over,” the 30-year-old said after the match.
“I had never faced such situation earlier in Twenty20 (games against international teams) so I am better and wiser with this experience.”
Left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin were kept out of the attack yet the rest of the bowlers did a good job of restricting the Proteas batsmen who appeared headed for a 200-plus total after rattling up 67 runs in the first six overs.
In-form opener Quinton de Kock (56 off 33 balls) and JP Duminy (67 off 44 balls) were the top run-getters for the South Africans.
India continued to open with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for the second time in three days and alt-hough it did not fetch any success, Dhawan claims such experiments help players gear up for the bigger challenges ahead.
Harbhajan bowled just 1.2 overs in the first warm-up game against West Indies in Kolkata on Thursday which India won by 45 runs. But at the Wankhede Stadium last night he bowled his full quota of four overs and was the most economic of the Indian bowlers conceding 27 runs.
“We trying different combinations like Bhajji opening the attack. It is good everyone is getting used to the pressure and the pitches,” he said.
India concluded their warm-up schedule with one win and one loss but they head for the World Twenty20 in the knowledge that almost all players got an opportunity to settle down to the playing surfaces.
The top-ranked team play their first Super10 game against New Zealand in Nagpur on Tuesday.
