Dhawan future of Indian cricket: Kapil Dev

[sarcastic]

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/56030/ Paying rich tribute to Shikhar Dhawan for his maiden One-Day International century against South Africa, former India skipper Kapil Dev said the Delhi left-hander was the future of Indian cricket. The 1983 World Cup-winning captain is so excited with Dhawan's batting performance against a four-pronged South African pace attack during India's Champions Trophy match that he summed up the opener's 114 in just one word, "fabulous." "Shikhar is the future of Indian cricket and see how well he handled the situation (on a new wicket that had bounce). It's time to move ahead (with new players)," he was quoted by NDTV.com. :two_thumbs_up: Dhawan's innings and his 127-run opening stand with Rohit Sharma gave India the foundation to post an imposing 331 for seven wickets. South Africa lost the match by 26 runs, their third straight defeat against India in the history of the Champions Trophy. Kapil feels the Dhawan-Sharma partnership is here to stay. "The decision to drop Murli Vijay may be questioned, but I personally feel the idea to open the innings with Shikhar and Rohit was all right," said Kapil. The former Indian Test captain said it was time for Indian cricket to move on. "This is a transition time for Indian cricket and we should count on the current crop of players available. As commentators we have not even discussed a Sachin, a Sehwag, a Ganguly, or a Gambhir," he said. "At least I am not missing any one of them and neither is the crowd here. No one cares for those not playing. People are talking about Shikhar Dhawan and not Tendulkar or Sehwag and herein lies a clear message for Indian cricket," the 54-year-old cricketer-turned-television commentator said.

[tweaker]

yes, Shikhar Dhawan alongwith Pujara,Kohli r the future of Indian cricket

[jf1gp_1]

We still need a couple of middle order batsman for test and maybe an opener. Who all are knocking the door ?

[ravishingravi]

Dhawan Pujara Rohit Che Kartik maybe Unmukt needs more time

[kumar713]

Not expecting much frm Chand.He is sehwag version 2.In Dhawan,Pujara,Kohli we have a gun batting line up.

[rkt.india]

Before Mohali test, Dhawan was a hack. How time has changed! :giggle:

[Number]

^Rkt, what do you think of Dhawan's technique for swinging/seaming conditions Looks really unconvincing with his driving on the up. But looks like he is in form of his life where he can middle every ball blindly.

[rkt.india]

^Rkt, what do you think of Dhawan's technique for swinging/seaming conditions Looks really unconvincing with his driving on the up. But looks like he is in form of his life where he can middle every ball blindly.

Every batsmen struggle in such conditions. Only things is to back yourself and play your natural game.

[Old guy]

^Rkt, what do you think of Dhawan's technique for swinging/seaming conditions Looks really unconvincing with his driving on the up. But looks like he is in form of his life where he can middle every ball blindly.

u dont middle bowl like this with fluke he has excellent hand and eye coordination like sehwag its natural talent.. even i think he might struggle in bowling conditions but tell me which opener of india did not other than gavaskar?

[Muloghonto]

Actually, even Gavaskar struggled in swinging condition of England and New Zealand. Though TBH, he averaged 40+ in both these places and thats not exactly struggling but it is struggling by Gavaskar standards. It should also be mentioned that the English attack through the 1970s and early 80s was pretty good. Bowlers like Willis, Underwood, Botham were gun bowlers in english conditions.

[Old guy]

Actually, even Gavaskar struggled in swinging condition of England and New Zealand. Though TBH, he averaged 40+ in both these places and thats not exactly struggling but it is struggling by Gavaskar standards. It should also be mentioned that the English attack through the 1970s and early 80s was pretty good. Bowlers like Willis, Underwood, Botham were gun bowlers in english conditions.

40+ in hard conditions is very good :nice: but my point is we should keep expectations in check in our entire history there was one opener who did well in hard conditions ..i will be happy if dhawan he can give decent starts and score runs if track is not hard away form home .. to me he is not one to be scared by bowling so that is a plus ..

[JaFanatic]

Not expecting much frm Chand.He is sehwag version 2.In Dhawan' date=Pujara,Kohli we have a gun batting line up.

chand is not a sehwag kind of player he takes time to go after the bowlers like every other indian batsman

[Sachinism]

Great Hindsight Kapil, just when Dhawan is in form singing high praises. I doubt he knew much about him before seeing him in the IPL

[Crookbond]

Actually, even Gavaskar struggled in swinging condition of England and New Zealand. Though TBH, he averaged 40+ in both these places and thats not exactly struggling but it is struggling by Gavaskar standards. It should also be mentioned that the English attack through the 1970s and early 80s was pretty good. Bowlers like Willis, Underwood, Botham were gun bowlers in english conditions.

If we can get 40+ from Dhawan in England/NZ, I will take that.

[KFC_Zinger]

Great Hindsight Kapil, just when Dhawan is in form singing high praises. I doubt he knew much about him before seeing him in the IPL

I did not hear him say, " I knew Dhawan when his diapers were being changed and realized his potential at that time"..... What do you want from Kapil, he saw the player, liked him, thinks he is a good replacement and suggested the same......

[sarcastic]

The contemporary style of Shikhar Dhawan The contemporary style of Shikhar Dhawan He's refreshing and fearless, and it will be interesting to see how he negotiates the tough period that inevitably follows a fairytale beginning Harsha Bhogle There is to Shikhar Dhawan's batting an utter bluntness. Every ball is a contest and he will take it on, muscling it past cover or through midwicket. There is, merely to illustrate it better, little of the finesse that so marked out another left-hander who made a dramatic entry into international cricket 17 years ago. Sourav Ganguly came from the land of Ray and Tagore, of poetry and art-house cinema. He caressed the ball through cover, he square-drove, and even when he danced out to spin, it was with an air of nobility. When he sported a moustache, it belonged to an actor from black-and-white movies. You couldn't twirl it, it was just about there. Dhawan has bulging biceps and tattoos and he clobbers the ball. He could be a farmer singing a ballad while he ploughs his field; not quite SD Burman, more Daler Mehndi. His cover drive is an assault on the ball. I don't know him very well but he probably throws his head back and laughs. He's very contemporary and he is fantastic to watch. This is not to suggest he is a slogger. Far from it. He stays leg side of the ball, like Sehwag does, has a pretty tight defence, and knows how to build an innings. He will take chances - his generation does - but clearly he now knows what works for him. And like Sehwag he seems to keep his game simple. The parallels don't end there. He fancies the upper cut, and as we saw against Sri Lanka in the semi-final, if there is a fielder on the third-man boundary, so be it. And I especially like the fact that he is never too far away from a smile, as Junaid Khan discovered when he followed through a little too close after beating him with a really good ball. Dhawan shrugged his shoulders and smiled through the helmet as if to say, "You won that, now let's move on." I am sure there is a fair bit of steel beneath that exterior, though. There is ambition. When he wasn't selected, he asked the selectors why. But his path is laced with adventure. For far too long he played brisk, short innings; for years he displayed promise but nothing more substantial, and I often wondered if he would let himself become the player he could have been. I don't know how many people knew how good he could be, but everyone knew he could be better. Maybe there was self-doubt, maybe the fear that the future he wanted grew distant and the present didn't feel right, maybe he just needed an anchor in life. Clearly something has clicked into place, for the ball seems to search out the middle of his bat. It is a great phase but one that is inevitably accompanied by greater scrutiny. Already coaches around the world will be studying him; teams not playing on the day in competitions like this will be discussing theories on how to bowl to him. You saw Lasith Malinga looking to bowl him a bouncer on leg stump, or even further down. When bowled outside off, he can slash hard or play the upper cut, but when on leg stump it seems to cramp him for space. A couple of times he threw bat at ball almost like he was attempting a heave. There will be more, because bowlers are sharp thinkers; they have to be to survive. Currently he is dictating terms but soon he will have to react to their wiles. It is always like that; years two and three are the discovery years. There is one thing in his favour, though. He doesn't seem to have trouble with pace and bounce in spite of having a ball clatter onto his helmet against South Africa. It is something that will be tested, and very quickly I would imagine, and in the course of time he must find his own way around it. For now, though, he is great fun to watch, refreshing and fearless, with shots on the off side and on, the cut and the pull and the lofted drive to spin. It is a measure of the importance he has already attained that, ahead of the final, he will be the most discussed Indian player in the England camp. And Ganguly will be watching, thinking doubtlessly about another English summer when bats were thinner, balls were gently placed through cover and tattoos weren't style statements. Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/644029.html

[Rocky Balboa]

Gutsy cricketer. Even if he doesn't have great technique against short ball he would continue to do well because of his gutsy nature. Its time India have cricketers with swag and style.

[special K]

This Sehwag wannabe is gonna get his head taken off by a Broad bouncer.

[FischerTal]

This Sehwag wannabe is gonna get his head taken off by a Broad bouncer.

broad and bouncing??

[express bowling]

Dhawan is dominating the opposition very strongly. That is the biggest thing for me. Dominating players win more games for their teams. He is obviously fearless, even to deliveries which he has some problem playing. A wonderful addition to our team. The only thing that bothers me is his inclination to step out to pacers too frequently, even in conditions when fast runs are not required. This may work when he is in form but when he is not this may cause a few unnecessary dismissals. Other than this ,he should not have much problems as he gains tremendous psychological advantage over the opposition. He should soon sort out his slight problem to high bouncers on the leg stump. Best of luck.