Shikhar Dhawan's rise to prominence

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.