Shikhar Dhawan: From dawn and still on

Out comes the helmet followed by a Dabangg-like twirl of the moustache. Up goes the bat towards a roaring PCA Stadium in Mohali. A shrewd smile of satisfaction and a broadened shoulders’ salute.

*Just 85 balls.

**Its a Test match.

***Its a debut Test match.

Meet the newest pinnacle of Indian Cricket, err Gabbar Singh err Chulbul Pandey err Shikhar Dhawan or fondly & more aptly, DA.ONE.

Gundappa Vishwanath & Lala Amarnath must not have been the happiest of men on 16th March 2013. Scoring 187 off 174 meant Vishwanath’s long sustained record of the highest score by an Indian on debut (137 against Oz in Kanpur, 1969) & the record of most runs on debut by Amarnath (156 in two innings combined against Eng in Mumbai, 1933) were as good as broken. Power of the moustache, aye.

Flashback 2004.

He didn’t have this big a moustache back then. In fact he didn’t have one at all. Ear rings were missing. Hair weren’t. He was a bit more fairer and cuter if you ask fan girls. The man wore the blue jersey for the first time ever on February 16, 2004. The boy from the Capital was asked to open for the Indian U19 team under the captaincy of a start stop Ambati Rayudu who had a bad company in between only to return to the fold later.

He was just an ambitious kid and probably he wouldn’t have known that he would become the leading run scorer of the tournament guiding India to the semifinals and that he would repeat the feat again -this time in a perfect manner- to clinch the title for the senior team after nearly a decade. Nevertheless, that was some innings to start your national career.

An unbeaten 155 with three fifty plus partnerships with the likes of Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina. His bat led team India to the semifinals with three centuries and a fifty only to lose against the eventual champions and neighbours and foes Pakistan. However, the best thing about the tournament was when he showed he-apart from the free strokeplay- has the capability of holding the innings thus bailing out the sinking ship against Sri lankans.

It was the same year when he was given Border Gavaskar scholarship with Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao where they were drilled by Allan Border and Bennett King at the Australian cricket academy.

Fresh from the success of the 2004 U-19 WC, here he is, giving some intense insights of his game. “I don’t believe in the concept of bowlers being difficult. I feel one needs to play the ball & not the bowler, as a great ball from an average bowler can get the better of you.” Boy knows to speak.

Dhawan had his own heroes.

“Andy Flower for grit, Brian Lara for flair and Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist for sheer aggression.”

Following upon the fairy tale he was included in the probables to play for the Delhi Ranji team for the 2004-05 season and got his place in the team to open with Akash Chopra with whom he loves to discuss his batting. He himself had six chances to open along with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Chopra in which he collected 461 runs @ 41.90, which considered a first season, is not bad at all.

Later as the season progressed, he was called upon to represent the India seniors in the NKP Salve Challenger trophy under the captaincy of none other than, Sourav Ganguly. He was also included in various teams such as Board President XI and India A and played against the touring sides like Pakistan, Sri Lanka etc.

Thus the rookie from Delhi followed up his first full domestic season with him being included in squads facing touring sides and performing well. With all his supporting performances, he became a near permanent member of India A side at the end of 2005. Not to forget the not so successful not so bad Ranji to follow. Averaging 41.14 with the bat, he showed glimpses of List A form even.

The India A opener had a successful EurAsia series (April-May 2006) scoring (127, 52,1,91,17 ). But he didn’t fare well in the next India A tournament – Top End series as he was asked to bat away from his favoured opening slot, at various other positions ranging from one down to finisher to accommodate Gambhir, Uthappa as openers. Though he started off well with a half century in the first game, he couldn’t repeat his form as the tournament went on.

There was also one four day game when he was asked to open with Pujara only to get dropped for the rest of games. Thanks to his 4 & 15. To his bad luck, his patchy form continued throughout the season scoring just one century and three fifties playing 9 innings each in First class as well as List A. With this relatively terrible 2006-7 Indian domestic season he lost his place in the India A team that participated in a tournament in Zimbabwe Tri Nation series, Sri Lanka and the home series against touring South African A team. [Fun fact: Praveen kumar opened batting in some of those games]

The world famous and recently, much abused English summer once helped him. Or put it this way. He bailed out The Etherley cricket club which apparently approached him on his holiday in Middlesbrough during the big gap in the Indian domestic season. The free stroked batsman gave everything to the club that they still remember him.

“We’ve had some tremendous professionals down the years but he’s the best ever,” observes Hylton Balmer, former player who also adds

“Shikhar has been a real shot-in-the-arm, a lovely man and an absolute fitness fanatic.”

“Always smiling, always talking” refers Dhawan’s spin bowling team-mate from the same club as he smashed the 157 year old club record with an unbeaten 215 in 45 overs and later adding 119 out of 291 partnership in the following game that made Roy Coates, the club Secretary is spell bound and says,

“He must have put a dozen into Dawson Street, I was getting worried about the cars.”

You can read more about his might and Etherley club drooling over him.

He was not a schoolboy anymore. He had mastered the puddle. Now he had a big sea to survive. He had to be brackish to withstand and carry on with the extremely distinct scenario.

He started afresh accepting challenges. That was very much visible as he was a key member in the side’s Ranji trophy win after 16 years in 2007-08 from which his average shooted up as years rolled on.

Though criminally under explained, A simple reference with his first class averages to underline his improvement.

2007-08 – 43.47

2008-09 – 54.70

2009-10 – 64.71

But getting in the hard & often cruel system of Indian cricket & more importantly, belonging there gave Dhawan a tough time. He started fairly early yet he started late. His ODI debut was 6 long years after his U-19 stints & he got bowled by Clint McKay in the second ball of the innings only to be consoled by skipper Dhoni & Raina later. Lets slip into his shoes maybe. Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma from the same U-19 team as his starting to find their feet in the One Day side. All younger.

“From Delhi alone there were players like Gautam Gambhir & Virender Sehwag all ahead of him yet he wasn’t getting a chance. The frustration kept building in & showing in his game,” says his coach Madan Sharma, unable to find his flaws once vanishing out of contention after touring West Indies under Raina after 8 months post his debut.

The selection of Virat Kohli, 4 years younger to Dhawan, as he now says with a hint of a giggle, took him to the thoughts of giving up the game. “He was feeling aloof.” “There is nothing wrong in his game actually, its all in his mind.” Sinha had observed. Shikhar himself recalled, “Am I good enough to play at the international level? I knew I had the talent & of course I was working as hard as someone else but something was missing.”

Those, guys, were the real tough times for India’s newest batting sensation who back then, had set his sights to make it big. Real big.

“He seemed to be in anguish while playing in the domestic circuit in bid to stage a comeback. Dhawan’s despondency during the Ranji matches over the last few seasons indicated his turmoil within. He was working hard but runs were hard to come by. So what was missing? It was difficult for either his coach or his mentor or himself to determine.”

Changes happen & in professional cricket, a shot is often enough to change the perspection of one’s game, the way to look at it, the way to approach it, the way to correct a mistake & the way ahead.

For instance, Dhawan’s was the one played in a Ranji Trophy match in 2010 in the Roshanara ground in delhi on a chilly December morning against the Railways. Although its cruel to single out his failure as the main reason for Delhi not being able to chase down a tiny-winy total of 136, a reckless shot did triger a middle order collapse.

“A new Dhawan was born that day.”

With an aggregate of 486 in 11 Ranji innings until then, Dhawan was bound to receive a lot of flak for the awful shot & he did. In the 2011-12 season he made a little impact in Ranji innings totalling 296 runs in 10 innings but his knocks of 177 & 155 against Rajasthan in Jaipur in the Irani Cup match kept him in the limelight.

“One would have thought he was not cut out for the big league after such a poor tour,” says Madan Sharma after the sloppy Windies tour under Suresh Raina, “But Shikhar came back hungrier, convinced that he knew what he had to do next. That was the turning point. He kept telling everybody that he wanted to play longer for India. He realized the IPL was a platform but the real clincher would be tall scores in domestic cricket.”

He should have known nothing but scoring loads and loads of runs will help his case of living his dreams. He had no choice but to work harder. After the early stardom he was down to earth feeling the pain of getting neglected. He had to move on. Apart from the man himself none would know the feelings of fellow U 19 team mates marching ahead with him lurking behind scratching his head in frustration.

“He started coming to nets on time, fussed over his batting, started asking questions he had done never before. He would ask about wrist positions & front foot play. He decided to work on his pet shots, like the cut & the drive. And he was very smart. With the advice he got, he knew what to reject & what to incorporate. He consciously cut out the tendency to waft at deliveries when set. At 27, these are his best years as a batsman & he knows he must make them count.”

Anybody else would have given up. Shikhar didn’t. He had the legendary openers representing the national team. He didn’t. He even lost his place in India A team to various other aspirants like Pujara,Uthappa, Gambhir, Rahane, Parthiv Patel and even Praveen kumar. He didn’t. He marched & marched & marched like a blinker tied driving horse. Didn’t look anywhere but his path. Well. That’s what you call determination.

So, who is this new Dhawan? The guy who is striking gold whenever he comes out with his bat?

He is “pure entertainment” as Navjot Singh Sidhu might have liked to point out.

You ask his senior Delhi teammate Akash Chopra & he will explain, “He has learnt to put a price on his wicket. Not that he has become a good batsman overnight. He has always been a talented batsman. Only problem was he never put a price on his wicket. He used to get out playing rash shots.”

He is not a man of many words. He will give the press the same reassuring smile he gives an opposition bowler on field. Maybe that is why his bat is so talkative, after all. It has to do the talking for two people at a time. But, well, who’s complaining?

15 years back, a twelve year old Dhawan showed up at his now-mentor-then-coach Tarak Sinha’s Sonnet Cricket Club in Delhi following the footsteps of his cousin. “He soon rose through the age-groups making a name for himself as a bold left-hander. He was essentially a stroke maker & always played that way.” Sinha maintains. So the flamboyance is nothing new.

There is something about his batting. You cant stop with the Viru comparisons & hell, he is Sehwag-esque. But there is more. Not a dull moment on crease. Between those resounding flicks & now-slowly-gaining-attention-of-the-cricket-world-and-beyond drives through the covers. My, don’t they leave you spellbound? Powerfully silky to sum it up. Then there is a swift paddle behind fine leg & an easy-peasy squeeze to point & you can go on & on & on.

Guy has a fat book of shots & I’m afraid it covers almost all in the buisness. And the positivity in his game, the way he goes about the task like an eagle to the sky, he leaves you wondering if any doubt, any concern nag him on the striker’s end. He plays each ball with such clarity & maximum intent & topped with some brutal yet crisp finesse that even when there maybe periods of measured scoring, he doesnt look laboured. Keeping up with it, always. And he does have the legs to accompany the rabbitish trio of Virat, Raina & Dhoni when it comes to running between the wickets, at 27. Also, on the viewer, a Dhawan innings doesn’t grate.

As Vijay Dahiya says, “Only those desperate to do well find luck come their way.”

At almost 28, he is anything but a rookie who has been around in the domestic circuit for 9 long years. But something has happened in the last few months (apart from wedding his long time kickboxer half Oz-half Bong girlfriend Aesha Mukherjee) that has helped him crack the code, finally.

He walked into the Indian Team & has been talking in hundreds since.

It took nearly a decade for the schoolboy with dazzling shots and free stroke play to overcome his fellow openers to live his dream of donning the blue. The school boy is at it again. The same calculated aggression. The same ravishing stroke play. This time with a big moustache though.