Cardiff: His penchant for super bikes is well
known, so is his fitness fetish. However, given the form he is in,
moustache twirl, more than anything else may go on to define Shikhar
Dhawan.
Having displayed his facial hair in full bloom and twirled them
with a bit of swagger en route a glorious 187 on debut against Australia
in March, Dhawan announced his arrival on the international arena with
aplomb.
Unlike his audacious Test debut, his ODI curtain-raiser was a damp
squib, with Dhawan getting bowled for a first ball duck. However, he
continued to perform well in the domestic season, before a Test call up
came along, thanks mainly to woefully out of form pair of Virender
Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.
Undeterred by the injury he picked up on his Test debut, Dhawan had
a decent run in the recently concluded IPL, scoring 311 runs from 10
innings at an average of 38.87.
Picked in the Champions Trophy squad on weight of his consistent
performances, Dhawan had a couple of ordinary warm-up outings before
firing on the big stage. In the five ODIs he had batted in prior to the
game against South Africa, the Delhi dasher had scored just 69 runs.
Thursday, however, was different. Starting steadily, he gradually
showcased the vast repertoire of strokes, scoring 114 runs off just 94
balls, with 12 fours and a six.
India play West Indies in their next Group match on Tuesday, and
with the opening combination coming good, captain Dhoni would be in a
happy predicament.
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