Dhawan adds to his string of failures

KOLKATA, If you hit a stunning 185 on your first day batting in Test cricket, you’re branded for life — that knock becomes a millstone around your neck, weighing you down, mentally and physically. You’ve got to be a superman to throw off the millstone. Shikhar Dhawan, clearly, has been unable to throw it off.
On March 16, 2013, taking guard in Test cricket for the first time, Dhawan made 185 runs off 162 balls in Mohali, with 33 fours and two sixers. This was breathtaking stuff. That knock was one factor India won despite a full day’s play being lost; and also a factor behind Virender Sehwag never coming back into the Indian team. With Dhawan in, there was no room for Sehwag.
Let-down
That March 16 of 2013 seems very distant now. Dhawan has never come close to replicating that innings. It’s not that he’s been a complete failure — he’s hit three centuries in Test matches outside India. Two of those centuries, however, were made in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. His average scores in alien conditions are very low — in Australia he averages 27.83, 20.33 in England, and 19 in South Africa. But more worrying is the fact that after his debut innings, he’s been quite poor in India. After his 187 on debut, he’s made only 224 runs in 11 innings at home. It works out to 22.40 an innings. He’s made no 100 or 50 at home after his first day as a Test batsman. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who bat lower in the order, have made more runs than him at home in this time. He’s played a total of 450 balls at home after his debut — Cheteshwar Pujara has played 487 balls and Murali Vijay 384 balls in the first two Tests of the current series. Dhawan, unfortunately, isn’t doing his job.
Tough competition
On the eve of the series against New Zealand, Dhawan said it was “good” that the competition for the opening batsmen’s slot is so very intense — he said it kept all the contenders motivated. “It is a good thing. Jaan lagani hai, dum lagana hai apni jagah rakhne ke liye (The openers need work hard, try their best to remain in the Test team),” Dhawan said.
He’s not been able to “jaan lagana” in this Test match, which he’s playing because of the injury to KL Rahul. He played a lazy shot, with little foot movement, in the first innings and was bowled. Today he was softened by blows to his hand by Trent Boult. His footwork is indecisive in the best of times — the hits to his hand, the uneven bounce off the track, further encumbered his footwork today, stuck him to the crease. Thus, when he missed one from Boult, he was trapped right in front of the wicket. It would be unseemly to suggest that Gautam Gambhir wants Dhawan to fail; but Dhawan’s struggles today, his second failure of the match, increased the possibility of Gambhir making a comeback in the team after a gap of two years.