Sports Desk: With his moustache-twirling
becoming a personal style statement, Shikhar Dhawan would like to caress
his facial hair once more, this time against World Cup runners-up Sri
Lanka.
The islanders, always a plucky side, rode on some authentic Mahela
magic on Monday to end Australia’s dismal Champions Trophy campaign, in
the process setting up a ‘revenge’ clash with world champions India.
Needing 253 to win the match, and needing to score them in mere
29.1 overs to ensure a semi-final berth, Australia finished 20 runs
short, losing the match in a meek capitulation.
India would have watched the game intently; quietly analyzing Kulasekara’s swing and Mahela’s vintage.
With no apparent weak areas so far, Indians would do well to guard against complacency in semi-finals.
Shikhar Dhawan, the man in form of his life, would be expected to
give India another solid start. In due course, the opposition are due to
study his game and exploit chinks too, making things a tad difficult
for ‘Gabbar.’ However, for now, he appears the most compact batsman on
view.
Capable of scoring at a quick rate without risking his wicket,
Dhawan has given enough credentials of his class in his three
international hundreds- one on Test debut and two here.
He missed a half-century against Pakistan by 2 runs, a game India went on to win by 8 wickets.
Thursday’s semi-final is bound to bring back memories of the
magical April 2, 2011 night, and India would do well to do an encore.
With Jayawardene making his class and ‘desperation’ to win clear,
the onus would be on the ‘moustache man’ Dhawan- given he’s leading the
run charts here- to deliver.
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