Published: Aug 10, 2015, 09:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 09, 2015, 04:51 PM (IST)
India began their tour of Sri Lanka 2015 on a positive note after dominating a relatively strong Sri Lanka Board President XI for the entire day. It started with the openers adding 108 runs; in this case Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul. While the latter missed out on his fifty, Dhawan carried on to score a handy 60. He did not bat in the second innings and with Murali Vijay almost back to full fitness, Rahul is set to be the one who will have to sit out for the regular openers to resume opening duties for India in the first Test against Sri Lanka. Nikhil Popat ponders whether this will be Dhawan’s best chance to redeem himself after an inconsistent run leading up to the series.
Arms raised aloft, the moustache twirled, acknowledging the applause from the crowd —no we are not talking about Shahid Afridi, Andrew Flintoff—neither of them had a moustache to brag their performances on the field, this is about Shikhar Dhawan, the man who has come a long way from being a Delhi boy, who was always being overshadowed by the likes of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.
Dhawan comes from the Sehwag school of batting and any doubts over it were cleared when he smashed a belligerent 187 in his debut Test against Australia at Mohali in 2013. Sehwag was struggling and Dhawan gave India a start they were used to getting from the right-handed opener for over a decade. He seemed to be the answer for India’s opening woes and he was looked up to provide India with quick starts regularly as India was to tour away soon post that period. Read: Video: Shikhar Dhawan in indoor batting nets ahead of Sri Lanka series
It was obvious that Dhawan with the technique of his was going to be tested, and sometimes it hurts the player more whe n they start in the fashion that Dhawan did. It brings its own expectations and added pressure. Even Dhawan would know that he couldn’t have repeated those heroics again anytime soon. But what followed that 187 was disappointing. In the next six innings, he did not go past the score of 33. What hurt wasn’t the score but the manner in which he got dismissed—Despite spending enough time at the crease he failed to convert his starts.
As an opener you are bound to get a good delivery early on in your innings but which is why openers are more important than anyone else since they do the hardest job of playing out the new ball. Dhawan, the aggressor at times was caught in two minds whether to play his natural game or get in enough to cash in later. He was under pressure in New Zealand, when he got a duck in the first innings, he though responded with a positive 115 but India lost the game from a decent position. He backed it up with another impressive score of 98 at Wellington as India were thinking of a win before Brendon McCullum changed the course of the game and New Zealand hitting a brilliant 302. Read: Virat Kohli’s aggression rubs off on players, says Shikhar Dhawan
Dhawan would have felt confident of doing well abroad but as usual, failed to capitalise on it as that innings was followed by a string of poor scores. In the three Tests he played in England, his highest score was of 37. He was rightly dropped for the fourth Test but his replacement Gautam Gambhir did not even last long enough to feel bat on ball and Dhawan was recalled to the side for the tour to Australia later in that year.
All of this happened while his partner, Vijay was churning out big scores at will. Dhawan was under pressure, he again got starts in Australia but apart from the half-century at Brisbane, which also came once the game was done and dusted; it did not help his cause. He was dropped again after playing three Tests and his technique of playing with a leg stump guard began to worry a lot of his fans and himself. He could play and score freely when the ball was not swinging but when the ball did anything, he would be in trouble.. And this time, KL Rahul his replacement stepped up and scored a ton in his second Test. It sent a signal to Dhawan, that there was competition; he could not take things for granted anymore. But then again came the luck Dhawan wished for and it got a chance to get back in the side as Rahul was unfit for the Bangladesh tour.
A lot could have gone wrong for Dhawan, who was possibly playing only his first Test in the sub-continent outside India. But this is his area of expertise, the conditions in Bangladesh were hardly going to trouble his technique and while Rahul watched the proceedings away from the game, Dhawan notched up 173 in just 195 balls to yet again get back in the reckoning but this is where he has faltered before and must be careful going ahead. Read: Shikhar Dhawan’s form during Bangladesh series a major positive for India
With Rahul back and scoring well, one would have wondered who the new Test captain would back but you don’t have people scoring 173 everyday, which makes the case even stronger for Dhawan to perform consistently. Players like him are an asset to the team since they can take the game away from the opposition in matter of a session. It is after getting the big score that Dhawan has struggled but this time he has the comfort of playing in conditions he is familiar with.Sri Lanka are not quite at their best in the bowling department and the likes of Nuwan Pradeep, Dilruwan Perera are unlikely to trouble him. He will however have to see off the dangerous Dhammika Prasad who gets good bounce and bowls the right lines and lengths with the new ball. With Vijay likely to be fit and with a big score under the belt, Dhawan has all bases covered but this is the time he must make it count. With a big series coming up at home against South Africa, Dhawan again has to go through a test of three Tests and back up his big score with more consistent scores. Read: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay dismantle a resurgent Bangladesh
If not, the arms might not be raising in joy but in introspecting his technique in the nets and the moustache will have to wait for some time to be touched but both India and Dhawan himself, will not wish for that as India prepare for a new era under the leadership of Virat Kohli in Sri Lanka.
(Nikhil Popat is a die hard cricket enthusiast and a PotterHead till the end of time. He can be followed on Twitter @CricCrazyNIKS)
