Shikhar Dhawan's rise to prominence

The international arena is a cruel one, and you do not get many chances to prove your ability even if you have a multitude of tons in the domestic circuit. The international game is about holding your temperament, the hunger for big runs and the intolerance towards failure. In the past few years, we have seen a number of Indian openers going through the revolving doors. Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Utthappa are a few names that come to mind and even middle order batsmen have tried to take advantage of the opportunity but have failed to do so. In the midst of all this, one player has finally grabbed his opportunity.

Shikhar Dhawan’s career seems to have blossomed finally as he scored his second consecutive century in the Champions Trophy. The left-hander from Delhi has been on the margins of the Indian cricket team for a long time inspite of an unfailing consistent record in the Ranji Trophy. This was perhaps because of the quality India had in their opening-slot with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar sharing the responsibility over the last few years. Shikhar Dhawan made his ODI debut for India back in 2010 against Australia at Vishakhapatnam. As has been the case with many careers of great longevity, Dhawan’s journey started with a fateful first ball duck as Clint Mckay shattered his stumps.

But Shikhar battled hard for his second coming.

Dhawan was called upon to open the innings for India after a series of failures for Sehwag and Gambhir against a potent Australia bowling line-up. He looked an inspired man on that day as every ball seemed to hit the middle of his bat. He made it seem like he had always belonged to the stage, oozing confidence as he drove, cut and pulled on way to his Test debut ton that shattered the record for the fastest Test century by a debutant. He continued to bat for the entire day, finishing with 187 runs and a look of satisfaction on his face. This was a player who had virtually waited nine years for his moment and now that it had come, he wanted to enjoy it. Dhawan’s innings grabbed eyeballs everywhere, and he was hailed for his abilities by cricketing pundits all around the world.

Dhawan’s century was followed by an unfortunate injury that ruled him out of the next six weeks. He was asked soon after if he felt disappointed because of the injury, and if he wondered that it would hinder his career. Dhawan’s reply was characteristic of his approach on and off the field. He said that it was a blessing that injury came after his debut ton, not before it. His ton was an exhibition of his talent and it was not a thing to be forgotten. Dhawan’s charming confidence and his optimism was vindicated as he entered the ODI stage at the Champions Trophy. He failed in the first ODI warm-up game but dug into his reserves of patience and perseverance against Australia to spend some valuable time on the pitch; it did not pay off in the match itself but its effect was abundantly clear as he came out to bat against the Proteas.

Dhawan’s test was against a quality pace attack in conditions that were supportive of fast bowling. The pitch offered bounce and South Africa had Morne Morkel in their ranks to exploit that. Dhawan assessed the conditions and started timing the ball very early on in his innings, his new opening partner helped the scoring rate with his fluent pulling of the short ball and that meant Dhawan could rotate the strike for a bit. As soon as he gauged that the pitch was offering true bounce and the ball was coming on to the bat nicely, he pulled out the repertoire of his shots. He played some exquisite cover drives, and soon came charging down the wicket and flat batted the ball to the boundary. Dhawan had announced himself on the ODI scene as well. The match winning innings earned him the man-of-the-match award. Dhawan’s next innings against the West Indies was confidence inspiring as he showed resolve and appetite. He helped India chase down a modest total in no time and finished the game unbeaten on 102.

Dhawan’s ease of demeanour evokes stability in the Indian batting line-up. His moustache-twirling bravado – a new sensation with the Indian fans these days – hides a soft-spoken and simple man within. He would want to cash on this phase in this career and cement his place in the Indian side with the Champions Trophy. The effect of having a consistently explosive batsman at the top of the order is definitely a boon for India who boast of the best middle order in the world with the likes of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni.