Can Shikhar Dhawan build on his T20I form to dictate India's chances against Ireland and England?

The Indian cricket team will be buzzing with confidence going into the upcoming T20I series against Ireland starting June 27, Wednesday. The 2-match series will provide the base for the limited-overs series against England. The Asian giants play 3 T20Is next against England and there is everything to play for.

Amidst all the excitement and the build-up for their tour of the UK, one player who comes into the T20Is in scintillating form, is southpaw Shikhar Dhawan. The left-handed opening batsman has been in exceptional touch with the bat of late and 2018 could just be the year where Dhawan lives up to the billing. Runs have flown at ease from his bat and that has been a striking factor for India in T20Is.

The 2-1 series win against South Africa earlier this year was the beginning of a special journey. The form was told once again in the tri-series Nidahas Trophy next in Sri Lanka. Dhawan was crucial for India’s success in both these series. His consistency also paid dividends in the Indian Premier League 2018, where he guided Sunrisers Hyderabad to the finale.

What is essential here for India and for Dhawan is that the T20Is will give the team a much-needed breathing space to shift their focus next on the ODIs and the Test series. A strong start and the possibility of winning back-to-back T20I series will be on the mind of skipper Virat Kohli. That’s where an in-form Dhawan comes into play.

A man for all seasons

Dhawan is India’s mainstay in all three formats at the moment and he has plenty to look forward to. If India aims to come out strong in this pivotal tour, then the team needs a strong foundation upfront. Who better than Dhawan? Against the Proteas, Dhawan kept producing one magnificent shot after another, which showed his attacking mindset in the three-match series.

The Delhi-born player stepped down the track to the pacers fearlessly and continued hoiking them over the leg side. His approach against the short balls away to the boundary with fierce pulls and cuts was pleasing to the eye. He also faced the spinners with a lot of finesse. Against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too, the intent was loud and clear. He got his highest score in T20Is (90) against the Lankans.

During this phase when Rohit Sharma was struggling to get the momentum, Dhawan never let that bother him and he came good with the likes of Suresh Raina and others in the middle-order. Dhawan has three half-centuries in the last eight T20Is. When one looks at his strike-rate in these games, it has seen an upward trend.

Dhawan has amassed 5982 runs in the Twenty20 format thus far across competitions. He needs 18 more runs to become the 6th Indian player to complete 6000 runs in T20 cricket. This also shows the credit that needs to be given to the senior player for coming strong consistently.

Ireland isn’t in sublime form and the recent T20Is saw them register one win in four. Dhawan will look to target the young Irish attack and it will be interesting to see whether he can bat long to get the big scores under his belt. Under coach Ravi Shastri there is a feeling that both Dhawan and Rohit have been given the license to cash in during the power-play overs.

That’s a trend that in turn has benefited India, rather than sticking along and looking for big partnerships in the shortest format. India has the desired depth in the middle, but the message to Dhawan will be to go out with the mentality of being the fulcrum of the side.

As a senior member, he has to take the responsibility on a consistent basis. During this purple patch, Dhawan has managed to show that. Importantly, he did not throw the chances away. He scored 321 runs in 8 T20Is this season at an average of 40.12 and has the chance now to get that average higher.

That is why success followed in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan too. Dhawan’s strength in his batting has been stepping out of the crease often. This year has seen the 32-year-old play with a positive mindset and that has helped him dictate the bowlers in crunch situations.

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