‘œIt is just that we panic a bit and we have to reduce that percentage, those little errors. I don’t think there is any major problem as to why we are not clicking in batting and bowling.” These were the words of ‘˜Sir’ Ravindra Jadeja describing his side’s mentality ahead of India’s ‘˜dead rubber’ against New Zealand at Wellington.
“It is just that we panic a bit and we have to reduce that percentage, those little errors. I don’t think there is any major problem as to why we are not clicking in batting and bowling.” These were the words of ‘Sir’ Ravindra Jadeja describing his side’s mentality ahead of India’s ‘dead rubber’ against New Zealand at Wellington. MS Dhoni’s side are yet to pick up a win in 2014 and they might need to do so before the 5-day game starts. The batting and bowling has really plummeted to ground zero and ahead of the 5th ODI, its New Zealand who start as ‘favourites’.
Amongst the many failures in the Indian team, the one such name to crop out is Shikhar Dhawan. The Delhi southpaw had not been in his usual touch prior arriving in New Zealand and Dhoni took notice of the former’s bad performance by axing him out. So why isn’t the Delhi batsman not amongst the runs offlate? Clearly, Dhawan has a problem facing the shorter ball, to which he has succumbed to in the ODIs against the Black Caps.
In an interview with The Times of India, his childhood coach Madan Sharma says, “He (Dhawan) was bothered by the persistent short deliveries bowled to him in South Africa. He came back to India and started training with plastic balls. He deliberately left the short balls in his last Test innings in South Africa before falling to a spinner. He knows he can’t pull every short delivery abroad, like he did in India. But in limited-overs cricket, he is struggling to let so many balls go. He said the team’s support staff has told him to stay aggressive.”
In the 3 games played against the Kiwis, Dhawan has accounted only 72 runs at a paltry strike rate of 77.41. What’s worse is that, many former cricketers are citing that this could be the end of the road for the Delhi dasher who once lit up the cricketing scene with a blazing Test century on debut against the Australians.
Former India cricketer Vijay Dahiya has called for patience on the southpaw. Speaking in the Times of India he says, “Everybody liked him batting this way last year and nobody bothered about his technique. He will figure something out. Maybe a break is good for him and he will come back fresh.”
Well, everybody wants Shikhar Dhawan to be back and scoring those runs for the team. Even as the series has slipped away from them, it’s important that the individuals in the team including Dhawan stay strong and positive.
As the great Dalai Lama quotes, “In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.” Hopefully, Dhawan and his team mates have concussed on the derivable topic of staying grounded.
