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A second life for Shikhar?
A second life for Shikhar?
“I didn’t have a great season but then I got runs in Deodhar Trophy matches which has brought me back into contention. There are ups and downs in life and I have become wiser after seeing failure closely”.
Four years ago, they walked out together to ‘open’ India’s challenge in the under-19 World Cup. Shikhar Dhawan with a phenomenal performance, that included the Man of the Series award, soon became a sensation. His partner Robin Uthappa was a silent bystander when Shikhar made it on A tours, was sent as India’s lone professional to the West Indies and touted to wear the India cap soon.
Unfortunately, a string of bad scores —- he didn’t register a single century in the entire season —- sent him hurtling down the ladder and instead the Karnataka batsman outdid him where it mattered the most — first in the Challengers, then in the BP XI against Sri Lanka and eventually into the Indian team. Uthappa, however, hasn’t had a great domestic season either.
The Delhi lad doesn’t disagree that his recent selection into the India A team to Abu Dhabi is second lease of life in his career. “I didn’t have a great season but then I got runs in Deodhar Trophy matches which has brought me back into contention. There are ups and downs in life and I have become wiser after seeing failure closely,” he says reflecting on his three-year old first class career.
“I know many people felt I was closer to playing for India, even I thought so, but I firmly believe that everything happens for the good. I am more mature now and capable of handling all situations. I did get my chance; every Ranji match I played, every side game was an opportunity in itself but sometimes you are not able to latch on to that,” says the 21 year-old, who has faced a lot of flak for throwing away his wicket. “I realized that I needed to work on a lot of other things —- my concentration, ability to stay longer at the crease.
“If you look closely, I don’t have a bad average in the total runs scored, but I haven’t got any century. That’s the key weakness and I have worked on it during the off-season and hopefully it will translate into runs in the tournament. This ‘A’ tour is very important for me, because only if I score runs can I press my claim.”
Shikhar has been desperately trying to shrug off the World Cup tag; he strongly believes that over and above everything, there’s the luck factor. Lady Luck has been playing hide and seek with him; hopefully she will ride with him Abu Dhabi. “Touchwood”.
A second life for Shikhar?
“I didn’t have a great season but then I got runs in Deodhar Trophy matches which has brought me back into contention. There are ups and downs in life and I have become wiser after seeing failure closely”.
Four years ago, they walked out together to ‘open’ India’s challenge in the under-19 World Cup. Shikhar Dhawan with a phenomenal performance, that included the Man of the Series award, soon became a sensation. His partner Robin Uthappa was a silent bystander when Shikhar made it on A tours, was sent as India’s lone professional to the West Indies and touted to wear the India cap soon.
Unfortunately, a string of bad scores —- he didn’t register a single century in the entire season —- sent him hurtling down the ladder and instead the Karnataka batsman outdid him where it mattered the most — first in the Challengers, then in the BP XI against Sri Lanka and eventually into the Indian team. Uthappa, however, hasn’t had a great domestic season either.
The Delhi lad doesn’t disagree that his recent selection into the India A team to Abu Dhabi is second lease of life in his career. “I didn’t have a great season but then I got runs in Deodhar Trophy matches which has brought me back into contention. There are ups and downs in life and I have become wiser after seeing failure closely,” he says reflecting on his three-year old first class career.
“I know many people felt I was closer to playing for India, even I thought so, but I firmly believe that everything happens for the good. I am more mature now and capable of handling all situations. I did get my chance; every Ranji match I played, every side game was an opportunity in itself but sometimes you are not able to latch on to that,” says the 21 year-old, who has faced a lot of flak for throwing away his wicket. “I realized that I needed to work on a lot of other things —- my concentration, ability to stay longer at the crease.
“If you look closely, I don’t have a bad average in the total runs scored, but I haven’t got any century. That’s the key weakness and I have worked on it during the off-season and hopefully it will translate into runs in the tournament. This ‘A’ tour is very important for me, because only if I score runs can I press my claim.”
Shikhar has been desperately trying to shrug off the World Cup tag; he strongly believes that over and above everything, there’s the luck factor. Lady Luck has been playing hide and seek with him; hopefully she will ride with him Abu Dhabi. “Touchwood”.