Published: Sep 20, 2016, 10:26 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 21, 2016, 01:38 PM (IST)
“Jaan lagaani hai, dum lagaana hai apni jagah rakhne ke liye [One needs to give it all to keep his place in the side],” said Shikhar Dhawan just after he got to know that he has been selected in the India Test side for next series against New Zealand at home. The above words from Dhawan speak a lot about his fighting character and his eagerness to prove himself again, like he did four years back on his Test debut. It also shows that he was aware of the fact that the axe was looming around him despite performing decently in the last series against West Indies. The word decent may not sound good for an opening batsman, especially if he represents Indian side and there is reason behind it.
Dhawan made his Test debut in the Indian side by replacing Virender Sehwag and entered into the team with a bang by scoring 187 in his very first innings of his career from just 174 balls. This made the perception that India have got their next Sehwag-type opener who likes to go after the bowler and is very courageous which led to huge amount of expectations and followed by some failures, as a result of which, he struggled in South Africa but came back with an impressive hundred in New Zealand. Then, again he continued to struggle and this time in England and Australia, which could have surely led to his exclusion from the side but he was given another chance.
Dhawan was kept in the side and made his comeback with two hundreds; one against Bangladesh and another one against Sri Lanka, on a turning track. Further, Dhawan once again struggled in a home series against South Africa, which was full of rank-turning pitches and averaged 25, which was neither bad nor good. Also, not to forget that his partner Murali Vijay too did not have an impressive run in that series and averaged 35 in that series.
After that, India’s next Test assignment was against West Indies in the Caribbean, where Dhawan started very well with an 87-run knock in the first innings of the first game but could not take the same form to next two matches and once again, the talks of dropping him from the Test side started in the Indian cricket circuit.
[read-also] 525609,481510,474536 [/read-also]
But not to forget that besides Dhawan, India’s other opener Vijay too has not anything special since his 150 against Bangladesh in 2015. There has been no fifty-plus score by Vijay in last seven innings and it is certainly unfair to single-out only Dhawan.
Yes, it is a fact that KL Rahul has been performing well as an opener and Dhawan has not been consistent with his bat but over the years, he has gained immense experience of playing in almost every kind of situation, be it turning, bouncy, seaming or slow tracks. The overview of Dhawan’s career might look very inconsistent but numbers suggest something else about him as he still averages above 40 after so many failures and ups and downs in his career.
As discussed earlier about Dhawan’s relation with Sehwag, his year-wise career graph also hints that he is another big opener in making with plenty of matches to be played at home this season. Like Sehwag, Dhawan too saw a downfall in the second year of his career and rose again in the third year.
Currently, Dhawan is in his fourth year of Test cricket and similarly like Sehwag, he has big home Test season in which he can emerge as the big thing for Indian team in Tests.
A look at Dhawan and Sehwag’s first four year in Tests:
|
Shikhar Dhawan |
|||
| Year | M | R | Ave |
| 2013 | 5 | 319 | 45.57 |
| 2014 | 8 | 504 | 31.50 |
| 2015 | 6 | 485 | 53.88 |
| 2016 | 3 | 138 | 34.50 |
|
Virender Sehwag |
|||
| Year | M | R | Ave |
| 2001 | 4 | 235 | 47.00 |
| 2002 | 10 | 637 | 39.81 |
| 2003 | 5 | 522 | 52.20 |
| 2004 | 12 | 1141 | 63.38 |
The above stats may lead anyone to think that this is a comparison between Sehwag and Dhawan, which is not. In fact, it is just a way of presenting how both these similar type of batsmen started and shone again in their career. Though, Dhawan has not reached that point where it can be said that he has made his name in the history of Indian cricket. But with the long home season, he has the chance to do what Sehwag did in 2004.
Dhawan is among the so-called favourite players of Indian team because of his ability to change the course of the match singlehandedly but it’s been a long time since he has done that. Probably his debut match was the last such instance where he changed the course of the match by himself.
Dhawan is among those who like challenges and competition. He is not among those who will get afraid of someone else’s good performance but as a matter of fact, it motivates him to raise his standards to do well. “I feel my motivation always increases even when things don’t go well for me,” said Dhawan during the Duleep Trophy final match.
Over the years, Dhawan has become a batsman, who will not score big hundreds, although he is expected to do that but he has developed himself in giving good starts to the team as an opener. He has got the backing and faith of his captain Virat Kohli, but that will not help him for long. It is high time for him to prove his mettle in the team with some big scores on the board and shut his critics.
Besides batting, he is a lively and joyous character on the field with impressive fielding skills which keeps energy among the players alive. This New Zealand Test series is surely going to be a big test for Dhawan as it might end up as the turning point of his career. If he performs, he will get his berth ensured in the side for next two series and if he fails, then it will be a herculean task for him to make a comeback because of extreme competition in the team.
(Abhishek Kumar is a cricket devotee currently staffing with Criclife.com. He can be followed on Twitter @abhik2593 and on Facebook at abhicricket.kumar)
