27 July,2017 08:38 AM IST | Galle | Anand Vasu
Southpaw Shikhar Dhawan would have been holidaying with his wife and family had it not been for a call-up due to M Vijay's dodgy wrist. He grabbed the opportunity with guts and gusto to score 190
Shikhar Dhawan
He has been called destiny's child before, but never has Shikhar Dhawan lived up the description as much as on the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka. Dhawan was not meant to be in the country, forget about in Galle. When the team for the tour was announced, Dhawan was left out, and had set off for Hong Kong on holiday, from where he was heading to Melbourne to spend time with his wife Ayesha and young children.
Then came the news that M Vijay's injured and treated wrist had not quite recovered fully, getting Dhawan a place in the 15-member squad. He was still not certain to play, but KL Rahul picked up a viral fever in Colombo, and needed the rest, not making the trip to Galle.
As much as Abhinav Mukund wasted the opportunity afforded to him, nicking off for only 12, Dhawan made his chance count. Dropped on 31, Asela Gunaratne moving to his left at second slip and wearing the ball so awkwardly on his left thumb that it was fractured and would later need surgery, Dhawan punished Sri Lanka's tiring bowling attack. Comfortable coming down the pitch to the spinners and at ease slashing the quick bowlers through the off side, Dhawan raced along at a pace not usually seen on the first day of a Test. Between lunch and his eventual dismissal in the last over before tea, Dhawan clattered 126 runs. In 63 years no batsman has made more than that in the middle session of a Test day's play, Denis Compton setting the mark against Pakistan way back in 1954.
Cheteshwar Pujara celebrates his century during the first day's play of the opening Test against SL in Galle yesterday. Pic/AP,PTI
Dhawan's personal record - and you would have to be churlish for knocking him when he chipped Nuwan Pradeep to mid-off 10 short of a double-century - propelled the team towards a more major milestone. India, ending the day on 399 for three, have never made more runs on the opening day of an overseas Test. In Wellington in 2009, India lost nine wickets getting to 375. While Virat Kohli missed out, hooking and being caught behind, Cheteshwar Pujara piled on the agony.
Middling the ball throughout his stay at the crease, Pujara walked off at the end of the day with an unbeaten 144 to his name. Dhawan might be the carefree kind to look at the positive side of making 190 off only 168 balls, overlooking the manner of his dismissal and the impending milestone, but Pujara is not the kind who likes to give his wicket away once his eye is in.
Sri Lanka's bowlers struggled all day long, not merely because of the lack of assistance, but because of the manner in which Dhawan came hard at them. Bowling both sides of the pitch, they were unable to string together a sequence of overs that would put the pressure back on India.
He said: "When I had a lean patch I knew that if I wasn't scoring, I could get out of the side. I felt that pressure at that moment. And when I got out of the Test side, it hurt me," said Dhawan at the end of the day. "But I moved on, played domestic cricket, and enjoyed myself there. One thing about me is that I don't like to be sad all the time." It's fair to say that happy days are here again for Dhawan.
126 Number of runs Shikhar Dhawan scored between lunch and tea yesterday
