After a string of brilliant all-round performances in domestic matches, which eventually paved way for his national selection, Rishi Dhawan is optimistic about Himachal Pradesh's chances in the semi-final clash against Delhi on Saturday (December 26). Pitted against one of India's strongest domestic sides, the all-rounder isn't intimidated by the prospect of facing their wealth of experience.

"There are no special plans against Delhi. They are a strong side. We have to stick to our potential and play well. We will try and keep the game in our control," he said. "We have beaten big teams in the past as well. We have beaten Delhi in the Vijay Hazare couple of times. We (also) beat them in the T20 tournament last year. So the boys do not easily get intimidated by big names."

Having outperformed Punjab, a side comprising of players such as Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh among others, in the quarter-final, Dhawan was confident about upsetting the traditionally 'bigger' teams in the competition.

"From the last seven-eight years, we have been playing against Punjab in the North Zone matches. So we are pretty much used to playing them and the youngsters in our team have been doing well. So it was a matter of time before we started beating big teams. We played really well in the quarterfinal to beat Punjab."

Pawan Negi, the Delhi all-rounder, too wasn't willing to take the semi-final opponents lightly and acknowledged their growing dominance in Indian domestic cricket. "They are playing well and this season has been good. But we will give our best and try and win the match."