Shikhar Dhawan retires: At his self-aware best, jolly Gabbar whled along serenely at a near-perfect pace in ODIs | Cricket News

Recently on that addictive mindnumb-er that YouTube shorts is, an old Rohit Sharma video popped up where he talks about his male crush on a young Shikhar Dhawan’s batting. How once when he was at NCA as a teenager, he learnt that Dhawan, who had just played the U-19 World Cup, was also there and his eyes were fixated on the left-hander. “He had a different, ajeeb sa (strange) stance then and I just wanted to see him bat, what he does, how he does,” words to that effect. Not long after, we know how Virat Kohli slumped on his couch at home when he watched a young Rohit bat and realised the gulf. For another young batsman to dazzle Rohit like that around the same time says much.Dhawan the Test batsman somewhat overachieved while Dhawan the ODI batsman was damn good and could/should have carried for more time if not for the perceptions about Dhawan the T20 batsman shadowing his entire white-ball career and his age was also given as a reason to cut him loose.
In the later half of his career especially, Dhawan – along with Kohli – was the batsman with the best awareness about the soul of an ODI game. Like Kohli, he never found himself with a need to over-extend himself and shift into over-attacking phases. He could whle along serenely at his pace that was near perfect for the 50-over game. And he had the game to do it. Over the years he picked up a few more tricks but in essence, once his game matured, his single-most strength was body positioning.
Shikhar Dhawan playing a shot during 4th ODI match played against Australia at PCA IS Bindra Cricket Stadium in Mohali on Sunday. (Express Photo)
The way he moved – a shuffle here, a body tw there – and used his wrs and arms to use the pace of the ball to deflect it in his chosen areas was a treat to watch. He manipulated the field, not brute power though he had that in his possession and used it more keenly in his younger days, with this perceptive awareness about what the bowler intended to do and the self-knowledge about what he could do himself. When most other batsmen hit a pacer’s ball behind square on the leg side, an extravagant flourish (like Rishabh Pant’s) or an easily visible effort (like Suryakumar’s) could be seen. Not with Dhawan. The contortion of the body was minimal, so was the movement of the hands, and he would tap the ball into gaps.
He always had a crunching cover drive and he could go aerial with his off-drives when needed. Always a good runner, and ever keen to rotate the strike, his game had covered the bases for the 50-over game.
Not that he was a fish out of water in Tests. He averaged over 40 in 34 games with 7 hundreds. And that debut against Australia in Mohali in March 2013 was as stunning a maiden audition that one has seen from an Indian in modern-day cricket. Perhaps the most attacking Test hundred on debut in our part of the world, even. A 174-ball 187, studded with 2 sixes and 33 fours was jaw-dropping. He creamed over 100 runs on the front foot on the off side including 19 of those fours. There were just 3 fours and a single behind square-leg, and how that area of his game would change in the years to come as he found a way, says much about his improvement.
Shikhar Dhawan walks out after the end of the days play against Australia at PCA Stadium in Mohali. (Express File)
But much before the end, it became clear that his Test game was a touch limited and hence he got just 34 games. He had his technical issues against the moving ball. He averaged 27.83 in Australia, 20.28 in England, and 18 in South Africa – and that just about sums up his Test game. Ironically, Rohit, the man who queued up to watch him bat once, would convert into a Test opener to seal the end of that facet of his career.
With the demands of strike-rate becoming increasingly prominent in the T20 game, where one had to bludgeon in the Powerplay, he couldn’t quite do it. He did try, increasing the frequency of his walking charges down the track, or twing his body to conjure more leg-side hits, but the game caught up with him eventually.
It’s Dhawan the ODI batsman that will stay in the mind. An average of 44.11 at a strike rate of 91.35 with 17 hundreds and 39 fifties from 167 games. He averaged closer to 40 in Australia, more than 60 in England, and a touch above 50 in South Africa in ODIs on less demanding pitches.
India’s Shikhar Dhawan celebrates his century during the 4th ODI cricket match against Australia, in Mohali. (PTI)
Un-worried either the conditions or the format where he didn’t have to over-extend himself, Dhawan settled into such an ease that was a pleasure to watch his mind tick in ODIs. The walking charges would be done at apt times, not overcooked as it would be in T20s, the cover drives were as punchy as ever and he developed the uppercuts, stripped of any violence or flamboyance but made them feel utilitarian. A trait that fitted his batting in general; it’s not the shots that featured in the highlights package that tell the Dhawan story but how he controlled the innings between those balls.
And his character too would stay. Even his nickname ‘Gabbar’ captures it. The man who gave him that name Vijay Dahia, former India wicketkeeper and Delhi’s coach, once told the story. For two days, Delhi were on a leather hunt on the field in a Ranji Trophy game, with Dhawan crouched at short leg for the most part. “Suddenly I hear Dhawan’s booming voice.”
Dhawan is shouting, in his impersonation of Gabbar Singh, “Suar ke bachoon … wicket kab aayega?!” (Sons of pig, when will a wicket fall). In that situation, when everyone is feeling low, Dhawan just got the team up with his comment. I nicknamed him Gabbar after that incident! He is totally bindaas. He is a sport — he is one of those rare guys who can laugh at himself. He will say, “yaar mein toh phuddu (idiot) jaise khela aaj.”
Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket two years after he last donned the national jersey, saying that he leaves the scene a content man after representing the country in all three formats. (PTI)
He would turn more serious about his game later, start a diary to jot down notes to improve his discipline and weaknesses, and also plough through a phase where his personal life would be publicised. But the overall public personality remained that of jolly ‘Gabbar’. His former opening partner Vijay once shared about Dhawan’s character. “I would call him Sufi at one phase. The way he looked at life in general. It changed a bit when things turned more serious of course, but he would always try to be like that. Not be overly drawn into things, try to stay clear of politics, be encouraging of his teammates, and leave a sense of happiness around him.”
Only those who knew him can affirm or disavow that, but it’s a nice vision to remember one of India’s best ODI openers in modern-day cricket.