Even though Shikhar Dhawan was coming into this World Cup on the back of a successful Indian Premier League campaign, where he scored 521 runs in 16 matches at an average of 34.73 for the Delhi Capitals, the ODI form he was carrying into the tournament – 420 runs since the start of 2019 at an average of 35.00 – was a little bit concerning for a player who has a career batting average of 44.91.
If calling his ODI form concerning – despite having a decent average of 35.00 – seems like an exaggeration, go and take out the only big knock he played prior to the World Cup, which was an innings of 143 against Australia at home, from the aforementioned run-tally.
277 runs in 12 innings at an average of 25.18 will inspire little confidence. Moreover, poor returns of two and one in the warm-up matches against New Zealand and Bangladesh respectively, and yet another single-digit return of eight against South Africa in India’s tournament opener hinted towards a lean patch that could have given India a tough time in the ongoing mega event, if it had stretched any further.
However, Dhawan was fortunate enough to be returning to the ground where he had only dominated and mauled bowling attacks, a venue with which he could associate some memorable outings.
In four innings at the Kennington Oval previously, the Southpaw had scored a total of 326 runs, which included two centuries and a fifty. And when he returned to the same venue for the fifth time, he got back his lost touch once again with a match-winning knock of 117 off just 109 deliveries, which included 16 hits to the fence as well.
It looked like he bonded with the energies of the venue from ball one. It was a cautious start from him but he seemed to be playing with a clear mind.
The swing and seam movement the Australian pacers, initially something which had got the better of him in the previous three outings, hardly troubled him this time. He played every delivery with utmost confidence and started playing his shots once he had seen off the difficult phase.
After seven overs, India had scored 22 without loss and Dhawan had scored 11 of them from 20 deliveries. He was yet to hit a boundary of course, the Australian bowlers had hardly given him an inch to open his arms.
However, the swing had died down by the time Nathan Coulter-Nile came on to bowl the eighth over of the Indian innings. As a result, he had to deal with the wrath of Dhawan’s blade, as it thrashed him for consecutive boundaries off the third, fourth and fifth deliveries of the over.
The first one was his trademark straight-drive played on the up, the next one was a square-cut that sent the ball flying to the point boundary in no time and the third one was a mesmerizing display of control and precision as he simply guided a cut between the point and the third-man boundary.
These three shots made it evident that the 33-year old had found his touch back and the bowlers were not going to like what was about to follow next.
Dhawan continued in a similar fashion for the rest of his innings.
The Australian bowlers looked tired and frustrated. The only time they had him in discomfort was when a length ball from Pat Cummins hit him on his gloves and then on his shoulder in the ninth over of the innings. However, he played through with that pain and produced yet another magnificent century against a pace bowling attack that most batsmen dread.
Dhawan’s Love for 50-Over ICC Tournaments Not Unknown
Dhawan now has a total of 443 runs at the Oval at a mammoth average of 110.75 and he seems to have set himself up nicely for yet another memorable ICC tournament outing.
After all, his love affair with 50-over ICC tournaments is not something unknown. While he mostly remains in the shadows of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, he takes his game to a whole different level on big stages like these.
And his habit of upping the ante in important tournaments could be traced back to his early U19 days when he emerged as the highest run-getter with a total tally of 505 runs to his name, at an outstanding average of 84.16, in the U19 World Cup of 2004.
He hasn’t stopped ever since and has been the highest run-scorer in the 2013 (363 runs at an average of 90.75) and 2017 (338 runs at an average of 67.60) editions of ICC Champions Trophy.
Although Dhawan couldn’t achieve the same feat during the World Cup of 2015, he was still the highest run-getter among Indian batsmen with 412 runs to his name at an excellent average of 51.50 once again.
So, Dhawan is a legend in his own right as far as playing in ICC tournaments or performing on the big stage is concerned. Any team would be desperate to have a player who steps up in this way and shows such consistency in a tournament as intense as the World Cup. And India are really blessed to have witnessed this capability in Dhawan.
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