In becoming the first Indian opener to score a century on his Test debut, Shikhar Dhawan reiterated the promise of fresh blood going to Team India’s rescue. The lingering debate over Virender Sehwag’s dipping Test form was settled by his Delhi colleague, who showed little nerves besides a peculiar “run out” incident even before facing a ball. Dhawan’s century, the quickest by a debutant in the game’s history, was an extraordinary effort marked by fluency in striking the ball, and very much in the Test manner. Modern-generation T-20 batsmen are far more aggressive than their predecessors, but Dhawan gathered his runs with fine orthodox strokes, none of which was deliberately hit in the air till his record-breaking century mark.
The mini-revival Team India has enjoyed after being felled at home by England only recently owes a lot to M.S. Dhoni’s power to rally around him younger players like Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Indian cricket must be forward looking so that it can focus on rebuilding itself rather than harp on the reputation of stars who, despite their phenomenal track record, cannot always pull their weight in the team now.
The signs are probably pointing to the fact that time may be up even for Sachin Tendulkar, history’s greatest Test run maker. If he has not yet made up his mind, perhaps the time is right for him, what with young batsmen having arrived on the scene to show their capacity to make telling contributions to the team’s cause.