To get to the next level, Shikhar Dhawan needs to increase his hunger for long innings
With disappointing shows on the tours to South Africa and England, Shikhar Dhawan is clearly not a part of India's Test plans - at least not at the moment. And although a big reason for that is his inability to cope with swing, another reason that cannot be ruled out for his Test failure is his temperament.
It is Dhawan's lack of desire to bat for sessions and days, and score heaps of runs in the process - something that his captain Virat Kohli cherishes - that has let him down.
That is perhaps the reason he does not have a single double century in 58 Test innings. He has three scores of over 170 in Tests, but a strike rate of around and above 90 in each of those innings is somewhat responsible for none of those being converted to double hundreds.
His ouster from the Test side should help Dhawan himself more than anyone else, as it would give him time to introspect. It is not that he does not have the ability to play big innings; it is that he chooses not to minimize the element of risk from his game.
If you look at Dhawan's ODI statistics, his (and his opening partner Rohit Sharma's) average is higher than both of India's greatest opening batsmen - Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. But why are the two of those considered way above Dhawan in stature? A big reason for that can be found in the nature of their dismissals, but the scorecards sadly won't reveal much.
If you ever watched Tendulkar and Ganguly in the 90s or early 2000s, you would rarely find them getting out playing across the line of the ball - especially during the start of their innings. While Ganguly did prefer scoring runs in the air, you would still find India's former captain less vulnerable than Dhawan. This, despite the fact that bowlers as well as the one-day ball these days are not as dangerous as they used to be back in the day.
The number of times Dhawan has got out trying to clear the in-field this year itself is telling. And for an average Indian fan, it is frustrating.
You would even find Rohit getting out in that fashion on a few occasions, but not as frequently as Dhawan. Although both batsmen are not the most technically well equipped, Rohit compensates for that by playing big innings every now and then.
If you look at Dhawan's career so far, you will notice that he has never carried his bat through the innings. In 215 international innings, he has only 10 not outs - all in draws and in chases. In ODIs he has never batted till the 45th over, and his 92 in the last T20I against West Indies was the first time he had played 60 balls in the format.
If not from Kohli, then Dhawan - a highly regarded list-A Indian player - should at least take a leaf out of Rohit's book. A hunger to notch up big innings - even if for selfish reasons - would go a long way in establishing Dhawan's and India's position in world cricket.