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Shikhar Dhawan feels the heat as India eye T20 re-boot
Dhawan faces this situation despite a stellar IPL 2020, which formed the basis for the selection of the uncapped Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia.
Shikhar Dhawan has a clear take on what he calls ‘desperate energy’. “When you are desperate, you are running after things. You want it badly. When you want something badly, you don’t have it. That’s why you want it. Desperate energy is not nice. You have to stay relaxed and calm,” the opener said in an interview during IPL 2020 in the UAE.
On his walk back to the dressing room on Friday night in the first T20 against England, as Dhawan kept eyeing the spot past mid wicket where he had intended to land Mark Wood’s 148kph delivery with a big, wild yank but got bowled, one could not help but remember that philosophical opinion of his.
The seasoned campaigner (at 35, Dhawan is the oldest member of the squad) fell for 4 in 12 balls. The cheap dismissal was not an exception on a night when most batsmen faltered. Fellow opener KL Rahul fell for 1 and skipper Virat Kohli for zero.
Yet, Dhawan’s case is different.
He has been earmarked as a backup opener with Rahul and Rohit Sharma ahead in the pecking order. He made it to the eleven only because the latter was rested for “a couple of games,” according to Kohli. In all probability, Sunday’s second T20I against England might be Dhawan’s last T20 international (if at all he plays) before the T20 World Cup that India will host in October-November.
India are ready to play a high-risk game using their batting depth and a fresh bowling arsenal. For that plan to bear fruit, Kohli is relying on “X-factor” players and more freedom in shot-making. It could take time though India don’t have many T20s to build-up for the world cup; and Dhawan has even lesser time to build his case.
In-form Sharma, with his leadership skills and impact in limited-overs formats, is the first choice opener. Rahul, 28, has been India’s most prolific T20I player in recent times and has many years ahead of him in international cricket. Stuck in between is India’s only left-handed top-order option with experience, known for reserving his A-game in ICC events, with only a handful of opportunities in front of him.
Dhawan faces this situation despite a stellar IPL 2020, which formed the basis for the selection of the uncapped Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia. In fact, last season was Dhawan’s best in the 13 IPL seasons with a tally of 618 at an average of 44.1 and strike-rate of 144.73—all career-high numbers for him in a season. He also became the first batsman to score back-to-back tons in IPL.
While these numbers are in Dhawan’s favour, some other stats appear against him. An array of options in the top order too has played its part.
As a pair, Dhawan and Sharma have the experience of 52 T20Is, scoring 1,743 runs (four century stands) at a run-rate of 8.28. If those are the best numbers by an Indian T20I opening pair, Sharma and Rahul are on their way to becoming one. In 12 matches, they have scored 558 runs together at a run-rate of 9.96.
Continuity must also have played its part. Since MS Dhoni’s retirement, Rahul has increasingly been seen as one who can keep wicket too if needed. He can also play in the middle order.
Individually too, Rahul has better numbers. He was the only player to better Dhawan’s run tally in last year’s IPL (670). Starting from 2019, Rahul has scored 761 runs (eight half-centuries) in 21 matches at an average of 42.27 (he opened in all but three matches). In the same period, Dhawan scored 441 runs (two half-centuries) in 19 games at an average of 24.50. Rahul’s career strike-rate (144.47) too is better than Dhawan’s (127.41). Sharma, though he missed the preceding T20I series in Australia, also has better numbers (18 games, 536 runs, 31.52 avg).
One issue is that in the current Indian top-order, Dhawan, Rahul, Sharma and Virat Kohli are pretty much in the same mould. They are more or less suited to play long innings, and lend solidity till the end. This is a trend Kohli wants to end, bringing in batsmen who can shift gears faster.
Hence, despite Dhawan adding variety as a left-handed batsman and his scoring rate against spin in the middle overs in IPL 2020, according to Cricviz, at 8.73 higher than Sharma (8.05) and Rahul (6.00), he faces a challenge.
So, what next for Dhawan?
Going back to his mantra of not feeling desperate will surely be on top of his approach. “It happened at a time when I was playing against New Zealand (2016). I knew if I could not perform I will be out of the team. I started working harder skill-wise, but my energy was desperate. I wanted to save something and eventually I got dropped. Then realised I have to be relaxed; when you are relaxed you don’t rush into things,” he said in that interview.
“If I have that calmness, things will come to me. It’s not as if I am not working on it. If you are desperate you will not have clarity. You will be rushing into things. You will be out of solution. How does some great players perform under pressure? Like Dhoni bhai, he could take the game till the last over because he used to have so much of self-belief and not be desperate to pull the game off. When you are desperate, you will make mistakes.”
Mistakes are what Dhawan will have to avoid now. He will likely get another game in this T20 series and then a few more games in the ODI series before IPL starts. He still brings in a wealth of experience and variety, and that could serve him well and help reinforce his place.
