What do I call him? Classy? Elegant? Or simply a complete cricketer? Few months back, I was on the notion that there can never be a suitable replacement for the exuberant Virender Sehwag. I am pleasantly humbled today as I behold my new idol whose charm with the bat is never ending.
Some would say that it is too early to classify him as a good player. But as the saying goes, I believe ‘form is temporary, but class is permanent’, and he has displayed ample class that has been etched upon every innings of his very short international career. His journey to the top wasn’t out of a fairytale. It was fraught with numerous struggles of the heart and the body. It would be immensely surprising to know that Dhawan wanted to quit cricket at one point of his life.
“After being repeatedly ignored for Team India, southpaw was dejected!” Tarak Sinha, Dhawan’s coach
Cricket could do that to people! Like many fans choose to believe, the journey to reach cricket’s upper echelons is not a bed of roses, rather it is the path of thorns, of pain and sacrifices that lead them to ultimate glory. They say nothing in life is easy, and one could not choose a better example to portray this thought for, if a player of Dhawan’s calibre could imagine leaving cricket, then it puts the game into its gravest perspective.
He sat by watching as players younger than him were making a mark on the international scene, while he was left to garnish the domestic circuit. He was prolific but not exceptional- he admits and has tuned his batting with every passing year to obtain the final ticket to stardom.
Known fondly for his effervescent style and attitude, Dhawan was sidelined for the majority of his career. It must have been hurtful, for the wait seemed eternal.
To begin with, Shikhar Dhawan is a player with natural grace and stroke making abilities and was renowned for the same in the domestic circuit. He played for Delhi which has churned out good cricketers of late like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir andVirat Kohli to name a few.
His Test debut was quite interesting to note. He was a replacement for his Delhi teammate Virender Sehwag as he paired up with another rookie in Murali Vijay. There weren’t quite a lot of expectations and people were basically furious for leaving out a deserving Wasim Jaffer. His praise was sung all over the cricketing arena, and people from all quarters wanted Jaffer in the team. Had Dhawan failed in that Test, the selectors would have had a tough time explaining his selection. But that is where Dhawan redefined his career along with the traditional belief that “India cannot survive without the heroics of Sehwag!”
He was the mirror-image of confidence of his statemate, as he butchered his way to a eye-catching debut hundred. He plundered the Aussie bowling and made a mince meat of them. It was not all. Records after records tumbled, as he marauded his way into the hapless Australian bowlers. It was a spectacle to behold, and even a die-hard Sehwag fan would admit that it was a knock worth of selection as one of the finest in recent history.
Even before this Test match, Dhawan was quite famous owing to his exploits in the IPL. Though he was not the best, he scored consistently for people to sit up and take notice. He was one of the successes in the 2012 edition, amassing 400-plus runs. His presence at the top was the only saving grace for the otherwise clueless Deccan Chargers.
Dhawan’s strength lies in the fact that he can time the ball to perfection. Though his batting might appear crude on the outset, you rarely witness a mistimed shot or a rash slog that is the general norm of this slam-bang era of cricket. Indian cricket has always been blessed with talent after talent in the batting department. Right from the class of Vijay Manjrekar to the ‘see-the-ball, hit-the-ball” impeccable timing of Sehwag, we have seen it all. But what set Dhawan apart from all these players, is the ability to wait and play the ball close to his body. Of all his dismissals in the recent past, there aren’t many occasions when he was out caught behind. He anticipates the ball like the tiger that is on the crouch to pounce on its prey, but is guarded enough to recognize the good ones. That is where he excels from the rest.
Apart from that, he has the ability to switch gears at will. Analysing all his innings in the Champions Trophy, his ability to adapt to the situation would be transparent as he can go after the bowling or can play the role of a sheet anchor to perfection. It is frankly a natural talent, one that could help him in the long run. Added to that, he has perfected all the shots in the playing manual that has helped him in being multi-dimensional.
His ability to play positive cricket has greatly influenced the team and the crowds as he demonstrated against the pace-filled South Africans in hostile conditions. He was not afraid to take them on and proved that one could score heavily with meticulous timing and proper cricketing shots. He followed it up with a mature century against West Indies and the manner in which he negated the effect of Sunil Narine, the number one bowler in the ODIs demonstrated his ability to bide his time for the right kind of deliveries to pick and score.
Dhawan might have had a fabulous start to his career, but to keep it going, a lot of focus is the key requirement. He ought to be circumspect and should not be carried away by the initial success. A lot of players have been blown away by the expectations from the fans. He should learn to treat both success and failure with equanimity.
“I would like to dedicate my performance (Golden Bat) to the people who have lost their lives back home due to the flood. My prayers are with them.” –Shikhar Dhawan
His generous gesture towards the flood victims has won a lot of hearts back home, especially since, not many cricketers mentioned about the floods in the recently concluded Champions Trophy. His attitude has matured and his game is on a different level altogether. If he keeps going about his job in the same way in the upcoming years, then like his fans, we could twirl our moustaches just the way he does and proudly acclaim that Shikhar Dhawan da jawab nahi!
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