In Twilight of Career, Lies Shikhar Dhawan's Most Profound Challenge

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

Shikhar Dhawan definitely trusts himself more than anyone else if you go by his scoring pattern in the current season of the Indian Premier League. A strike rate of nearly 150 (148.07) at an average of 58 (57.75) and 231 runs after just four matches clearly tells you that the opener has indeed made allowance for the doubting Thomases and is in desperate bid to regain his position as the partner of Rohit Sharma for the upcoming T20 World Cup in October.

Yes, Dhawan is not a prolific six-hitting batsmen like a Rohit Sharma or a KL Rahul (especially in the latter part of the innings) but he compensates this by scoring boundaries at will at any stage of the game. Since 2016 Dhawan has been scoring over 475 runs in every season and his strike rate has been improving significantly as well – from around 136 in 2018 and 2019, he improved it to 145 last season. Going by his intent, this could be his best season in terms of strike rate.

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Essentially, if Dhawan’s career can be simply described in just one word, it is his resilient spirit. At every stage of his career he had shown that he’s never tired of waiting for the chance. He was the highest run-scorer at the 2002 under 19 World Cup and was adjudged Player of the Tournament (505 runs at 84.16 with three centuries) and yet Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik went on to play for country from the same batch much ahead of the Delhi leftie.

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

No one has scored more boundaries in the history of IPL than Dhawan. No one has scored 5000 plus runs as an opener in IPL. He is among the top three run-getters in IPL history along with Kohli and yet most of the time you hear the criticism around his relatively poor strike-rate.

For the record, Kohli scores at 130 while Dhawan at 127.

Of course, Kohli or Rohit have never been dropped for being the match-winner they are, Dhawan has been asked to sit in the reserve bench in spite of equally good outings. He has certainly been an ODI great for India and, yet, is unperturbed by same kind of success in the shortest format of the game.

“I am not afraid of changes. I am always open towards changes,” Dhawan said in the post- match presentation ceremony where he was adjudged the Player of the Match for his 92 runs against Punjab Kings.

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

India captain Kohli and Dhawan go a long way since their formative years in Delhi cricket. It is not exactly like Sachin Tendulkar-Vinod Kambli kind of friendship yet the bonding was always strong. Today, when Dhawan is trying to make another comeback in the national side, he will be fighting for a place with the most powerful man in Indian cricket. If Kohli has decided to open in the World Cup, who can tell him that it’s not his birthright? Even a friend like Rohit who is himself a giant and carries a lot of weight in Indian cricket hasn’t spoken a word on the likely partner for the mega event.

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master 

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

Dhawan was wandering in domestic cricket like an ordinary cricketer until 2013. By the age of 27, he had scored nearly 6000 (5679) first-class runs and yet no one thought he could play for India as his state mates Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had made the opening slots their own. And, yet, Dhawan didn’t stop dreaming.

The best ever debut by an Indian batsman (fastest ever hundred on debut off just 85 balls and eventually 187 runs off just 174 balls in Mohali against Australia ) resulted in giving him seven Test hundreds (Sanjay Manjrekar and Yuvraj Singh have managed to score as many jointly) in 34 Tests.

Dhawan thinks about his game and more often than not has achieved what he has aimed for.

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone;

The sight of ICC tournaments has somehow managed to awaken Dhawan every time since he made his comeback in white-ball cricket at 2013 Champions trophy. The player of the tournament scored 363 runs in just five games, including two hundreds. He made 338 runs in 2017 edition as well. In the 2015 World Cup, Dhawan was India’s highest run-getter with 412 runs and scored a ton in 2019 World Cup before injury ruled him out from the remainder of the event. However, in the two editions of T20 World cups (2014 & 2016), Dhawan had not at been at his magical best (could manage only 74 runs in 7 matches).

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is arguably regarded as the coolest cricketer and the ultimate player to hold on when it seems all over. If there is one player in the current Indian team who has the same outlook towards life and not just cricket, it is Dhawan. His willpower had made him the player he is today but his new-found calmness is inspired by Dhoni’s on field demeanour and off the field it is the Brahma Kumari (BK) Sister Shivani. Dhawan had told this writer a couple of year back, that because of the profound influence of Sister Shivani’s philosophy, he doesn’t have the fear of failure anymore.

Perhaps, that is why “Gabbar” is playing with a new-found freedom which was earlier missing in his T20 game. “I am very relaxed these days. If I am not relaxed this time, then when? I’m relaxed but also attentive,” said Dhawan recently.

However, the most crucial question remains the same. Can he do it once more at the twilight of his career in the most challenging circumstances? That can only be answered by the opener himself in the next couple of months and neither Rudyard Kipling’s nor Sister Shivani’s philosophy can offer any help!

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