Only a champion batsman and a judge of batsmen like Rahul Dravid could have dissected Shikhar Dhawan’s lack of form in the Test series against Australia and stick his neck out saying “playing different opposition” could see the troubled left-hander strike big in the ICC World Cup.
Fielding questions at a promotional event in the city three weeks ago, Dravid had waxed eloquent on Dhawan’s run-scoring ability in the last two years and said that he has earned the right for people to be patient with him.
“By the business end of the tournament, if he (Dhawan) is in form, he will be your most valuable player. Maybe playing a different kind of opposition, he will get back into form” Dravid had said then.
Dhawan’s run of scores — 25, 9, 24, 81, 28, 0 — was regarded a flop show by pundits before he was dropped for the Sydney Test.
He was dismissed for 2, 1, 8, 38 in the tri-series featuring Australia and England.
But Dhawan has run into form in the World Cup, proving Dravid’s prediction right.
Dhawan’s scores in the previous ICC event (Champions Trophy 2013) were 114 against South Africa at Cardiff, 102 not out against West Indies at The Oval, 48 against Pakistan at Edgbaston, 68 against Sri Lanka at Cardiff and 31 against England at Edgbaston.
