Published: Jun 25, 2015, 07:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Jun 25, 2015, 04:03 AM (IST)
India may have lost the series against Bangladesh, but they can be glad about Shikhar Dhawan‘s form. He scored 158, emerging as the top scorer in the series. Rishad D’Souza feels the fact that Dhawan scored a healthy amount of runs under testing conditions is a promising sign for India.
Shikhar Dhawan set up a consolation victory for India by scoring a fluent 75 from 73 deliveries in the third One-Day International (ODI) against Bangladesh at Dhaka. The innings was crafted fantastically and he carried on gracefully despite fall of a couple of wickets. He seemed to be brimming with confidence, despite India facing the threat of a whitewash. India vs Bangladesh 2015, 3rd ODI at Dhaka Highlights: Suresh Raina’s all-round show, Soumya Sarkar’s gem, and more
Ultimately, a minor error in judgement saw his innings come to an end just when he had his eyes set on the triple figures. He attempted to hit Mashrafe Mortaza to deep midwicket for four, but thanks to an athletic catch from the tall Nasir Hossain at short midwicket, Bangladesh were successful in getting him out.
His innings laid the foundation for a big Indian total of 317 for 6. It ultimately helped India clinch the final ODI by a thumping 77 runs, which will serve as welcome consolation after losing the first two ODIs comprehensively. Virat Kohli’s poor form: What is going wrong for India’s talismanic batsman?
While this was India’s first well-rounded performance as a team, Dhawan has been steady throughout the series. He scored 30 in the first ODI. It was not exactly a good score, but he provided good support role to fellow opener Rohit Sharma, putting up a solid 95-run partnership.
In the second ODI he held his nerve despite Rohit getting out for a two-ball duck and went on to score a responsible fifty. The characteristic that stood out for Dhawan in all his innings was an increased level of maturity. He read the pitch well and played the bowlers to their merit. Virat Kohli should lead India under MS Dhoni’s guidance
While other Indian batsmen seemed to be falling prey to either complacency or pressure, Dhawan was level-headed and worked hard to construct his innings. He will be disappointed to not have converted any of the starts into hundreds, but if he continues to bat like this the big scores will take care on themselves.
The importance of an opener across formats cannot be overstated. They are responsible to set the tone for an innings. Often, the unfolding of an innings relies heavily on the kind of start given by the openers. Hence, India should be pleased with the progress made by Dhawan during the series. Dropping Ajinkya Rahane was the right call
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RDcric on Twitter)
