India vs Australia: Has Shikhar Dhawan already peaked and fizzled out?

Mohali 2013: India are 2-0 up in a four Test series against Australia. They are outplaying their guests in every facet of the game. Homework gate happens here. So too does the Test debut of Shikhar Dhawan. Not a young man, he walks to the crease at age 28. Australia have batted first in this match, making a respectable 408. A number that will forever be remembered by cricket enthusiasts for a more solemn reason. [caption id=“attachment_2026887” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Shikhar Dhawan (L). Getty[/caption] Hughes, Cowan and Smith all make 50’s. Starc makes 99 before succumbing to Ishant. Only one other Australian batsman makes it past nine runs. Perhaps the pitch is not quite a batsman’s paradise. Enter debutante Shikhar Dhawan. 187 runs later - off only 174 balls - a star is born. Driving, cutting, flicking the ball off his pads, deft knocks and leg glances. A record opening stand of nearly 300 with Vijay. It so nearly could have ended before a ball was bowled. Starc, while running in to deliver the first ball of the innings had the ball slip from his hand and hit the stumps at the bowlers end. Dhawan was backing up and was out of his crease. Senanayake would have appealed and Dhawan would have been out. A diamond duck on debut. Australia chose not to follow that path. Instead, we witnessed the dawn of another in a long line of New Age Indian batsmen who have brought brilliance to the Test arena. There was no need to panic at the loss of Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly. India had Kohli, Pujara and now Dhawan. Dhawan didn’t bat again in that series because of a hand injury he picked up in the field. When he finally returned to face the West Indies and South Africa, some cracks appeared. Seven innings against them without a 50. Could he be a flash in the pan? A century followed by a 98 in New Zealand silenced the jungle drums for a short time. Dhawan was the real deal. Bona fide. Thirteen more innings have now passed, made up of a tour of England and one of Australia. Dhawan has only passed 50 runs once in that time. At the MCG on day five, he needed to stand up. Australia had a 350+ run lead. Dhawan needed to see off the new ball. In comes Ryan Harris. A gorilla with a head of steam and a swinging, new, hard nut. The pads are struck on his fifth ball. The finger goes up. Dhawan has done nothing to help his team. It is no disgrace to be caught in the web of a Harris opening spell. He has mastered everyone at some stage. However, more fight was required. Dhawan was back in his crease. He could have chosen to bat out of it to quash the swing. Take the LBW out of play. He chose the opposite. It was poor batting. This is just an illustration to highlight a point. Perhaps Dhawan suffers from the same flaws that bedevil Shane Watson. Both are beautiful to watch in full flight. They have the shots. They can make scores. Their first class records tell us that. However, at Test level, their temperament fails them. They lack patience. They feel they must go hard at the ball, to play shots. To be David Warner. Dhawan has now played 23 innings. He has only faced 100 balls on four occasions. This is not good enough for an opener. His job is to lay a foundation and see the new ball off. It is not to average 35 and get out consistently while the ball is still helping the fielding side. Has Shikhar Dhawan peaked? If so, he has fizzled out quicker than a North Korean missile test. Perhaps, like some other Indian players, he is better suited temperamentally to the shorter formats of the game. One that is more forgiving of the loose shot or the guys that makes a run a ball 40. But India need more than that. Dhawan has the technical skills to be a great Indian opener. The question is, can he find the mental skills?