All eyes are on Shikhar Dhawan, the new opening batsman for Team India to make his debut in the absence of the most successful opening pair - Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Displaying tattoos and twirling his moustache, it was Dhawan initially who hardly gives an impression of a player who is going to make his Test debut. The flamboyant player may have had two nights of sound sleep, having been asked to get ready well in advance by the captain and the coach.
What a God-provided chance for this 27-year-old! A chance against the limping Australians has made his smile broader than before.
Regarded for being with a ‘devil may care’ attitude, Dhawan can ultimately claim that he too is a Test player.
After making his first-class debut in 2004, he has been around for nearly a decade, seeing his Delhi teammates scale the ladder.
It’s been a long wait for him but patience and hard work have paid off. He has been roped in to replace Virender Sehwag, whom he has viewed and idolised. “I was talking to Viru paaji during the course of last two Tests. I did ask him about his batting average (which is about 50), and he just told me to concentrate on my strengths and not bother about anything else,” Dhawan said.
There are butterflies in his stomach like any other debutant. “There will be nerves but then my job is to give 100 per cent in the middle and I will do that,” he included. Interestingly, he eyes on the grand opening pair of Viru and Gauti and has set himself a target of matching it along with Vijay.
Dhawan’s tryst with destiny has not occurred easily. His 833 runs in the current domestic season has offered him ample support to reach this far. His Duleep Trophy performance — 309 runs in two games — was confirmation, if one was needed, that he has created a new page in his career.
In Dhawan’s own words, this was his “most prolific season”. After he was included in the Test squad, he told about his “maturity”. “I was always playing well but with maturity and age I am now more consistent than ever,” he said.
Marriage, too, has played its part. Highly popular for his carefree approach, Dhawan admits he still plays freely but “sensibly”.
In a domestic Ranji game against Maharashtra last season, Delhi were set a target of 270 in the last innings. And this at a venue where the highest last innings chase until then was only 160. Dhawan single-handedly won the match for his team by piling a delightful 116.
“In the first year in domestic cricket, not many opponents will know your game. By the time you are into the third or fourth year, the opponents would have found out your strengths and weaknesses and they will work on it. Bowlers will test your patience. The real challenge is to keep scoring in those circumstances and that comes with experience,” said Dhawan. Well, the day has arrived for this charismatic player to make his talent count.
