Another twirl of Shikhar Dhawan’s mustache

As far as comebacks are concerned,few have shown the hunger better than the left-handed opener.

JP Duminy,bowling from the Taff river end,tossed the ball between the palms to a non-static Shikhar Dhawan. Even before the leather left the off-break bowler’s arm,Dhawan had already wheeled well down the wicket to attempt yet another of his on-the-move-drives. The forces of nature shifted the direction of the ball and Dhawan,playing down the wrong line,missed.

Stranded in the middle of the pitch,while simultaneously cramping,panting and even bleeding (more on that later),Dhawan could have just walked back to the dressing room which at that point almost seemed nearer than the crease he left behind. But AB de Villiers,captain and wicketkeeper,somehow managed to mess up a sitter of a stumping.

A tired Dhawan was eventually dismissed not long after,adding just 12 more runs to his score. This,then,perhaps was the only life,a second chance,that fate has thrown at Dhawan this year that wasn’t utilised to its last squeeze. For as far as comebacks are concerned,few have shown the will,inspiration and hunger better than the left-handed opener. The explosion of his emotions from a few moments prior to the chance illustrates the point.

In the ball that he faced just before the de Villiers fumble,played during the previous over,Dhawan had brought the Cardiff arena,filled to its brim with NRIs and unfurled tri-colours,to its feet. Arms wide open and head thrown back with a laugh,Dhawan stood in the centre of the pitch,stadium,Wales and the cricketing world,bringing in his first one-day century. That Afridiesque star-man,could-I-be-any-greater pose is now a well rehearsed act. The last time he played an international for India,on his Test debut in March,he had struck that very stance,bang in the middle of his two-session,187-run thriller. India vs South Africa: In pics

Back then,in Mohali,Dhawan could have been dismissed for a diamond duck,run out at the non-striker’s end without having faced a ball another example that rests the case of Dhawan,second chances and 2013. But today,in the opening game of the Champions Trophy against South Africa in Wales,there were no such hiccups. India vs South Africa: Stats pack

The comeback

The last time Dhawan had played an ODI was in 2011. There in the West Indies,Dhawan was accused of trying too much in the early stages of the game. It was perhaps a fair criticism,considering he had managed just one fifty in five games. Today,it was different. As late as the sixth over of the innings,Dhawan stepped out to Lonwabo Tsotsobe and stroked an oil painting of a drive through the covers for four. The boundary took him from 6 to double digits,from watchful to attentive.

Entire range

Not long after,his entire repertoire,was on shining display. Strong off the pads,Dhawan flicked a full Ryan McLaren delivery fine for another four in the ninth over. This changed the bowling approach,with the pacers now banging it in well short. But Dhawan was unmoved,his powerful and tattooed arms muscling away pulls with ease.

Story continues below this ad

When the lengths got shorter and the spring off the pitch spongier,Dhawan drew out his hooks carefully closing the face of the bat in his swivel to keep the ball down. He connected most and missed some. One such miss,in the 18th over bowled by McLaren,crashed into his right ear-lobe. He shrugged it off,braced up for the following bouncer,only treating the profuse blood spill at the end of the over.

Well before Morne Morkel suffered a left-quad strain and was firing out his sharp-risers at will,Dhawan controlled a pull with poise to move from 51 to 52 his highest one-day score.

For a man who hasn’t played much one-day cricket,the nineties must be a tricky place to be. Trying tell Dhawan that,who spent all of seven balls there. Rory Kleinveldt,who had so far escaped Dhawan’s wrath,was given the duty of stopping him from getting the hundred in the 32nd over.

He managed with great seam deception for the first four balls. Then,getting one to cut into the left-hander late,Kleinveldt would have expected a shattering of stumps. Only,Dhawan coolly rocked back and cut it past point for four. And of the following ball,he fanned away a waist high delivery off his ribs to the boundary,ushering in what has been an everyday sight for him in international cricket this year. Both mustache and arms raised aloft to the skies.