Dhawan ends Himachal’s long wait

Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh’s 30-year long wait for one of its cricketers to break into the Indian side ended on Saturday. Rishi Dhawan, the all-rounder from Mandi, has been included in the Indian ODI squad for the tour of Australia.
Himachal Pradesh have been participating in the Ranji Trophy since 1985. And in all these years, there have been just a couple of players who showed the talent and potential to play for the country. Unfortunately, none could make the cut before Dhawan. Shakti Singh, a former fast bowler from Mandi, was the first player from the hill state who, many thought, had it in him to represent the country.
“Unfortunately, we just had talent… There was no infrastructure back then, no coaching facilities, and no one to push our names despite performing well. The system back then wasn’t as transparent and fair as it is now,” said Singh.
“So when Rishi was picked, it felt like I’ve been selected. It feels so good to have someone coming from the same town, having played in the same ground as you, to play for the country.”
The former fast bowler, now a BCCI match referee, says Dhawan’s selection will do a world of good to the confidence of the Himachal players. “It’s going to inspire many others, they will have much greater self-belief and confidence after seeing someone from amongst them rising to the top,” said Singh.
Dhawan, unlike Shakti, has been lucky to play at a time when Himachal is no longer the back-of the-beyond state in cricketing terms; in the last 10 years or so, a massive cricketing infrastructure has come up, and the state has a strong voice in the BCCI as well.
With everything else in place, someone just needed to perform consistently to get noticed. And Dhawan has been doing exactly that for the last couple of seasons in the domestic circuit. In 51 first class matches, he has picked up 220 wickets at a strike rate of 53.3, and scored 2165 runs at an average of 40.84. In List A (limited-overs cricket), too, he has an impressive record — in 53 matches, he has taken 70 wickets at an economy rate of 5.22, and has scored 2212 runs at an average 39.62. That’s a pretty impressive all-round record, especially in a country where quality all-rounders are pretty rare to spot.
“He has been equally good with both bat and ball from his U-19 days. In one match, he hammered 340, which was then the highest individual total; and in another he took five wickets without conceding a run,” recalled Anuj Pal Dass, Dhawan’s U-19 coach.
Cricket fans would hope for Dhawan to turn in equally sterling performances in India colours when he does get to play for India.