March 14, 2013 was a big day for the Indian team. After a long string of bad performances, veteran Virender Sehwag had been dropped from the Test team in the middle of the home series against Australia. He’d been a mainstay of the team for over a decade. One of the most explosive batsmen to ever don the whites, Sehwag was an integral part of the legendary Indian batting line-up that included greats like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly.
Sehwag’s biggest fans may have hoped otherwise, but the writing on the wall was clear: this was the end of his international career. India had to look to the future and find a long-term replacement for a very unique player. The answer: yet another swashbuckling Delhi batsman, Shikhar Dhawan.
It was day 3 of the third Test when Dhawan walked out to bat in Mohali, after Australia had put up 408 in the first innings - their highest score of the series so far. What happened that day is something pundits still talk about while discussing the southpaw. Shikhar Dhawan smashed the fastest century on debut - a staggering 187 in 174 balls - announcing his arrival in Test cricket and making the cricketing world believe that he could be a replacement for Virender Sehwag.
But later that year, India began a long away season that included every major tour outside Asia. To say that Dhawan’s performance in that season left a lot to be desired would be an understatement. While he had legitimately cemented his place in the ODI team, the same could not be said for the longer format. It became exceedingly clear that Dhawan was no Sehwag in the whites.
As of now, Dhawan has played nine Tests on India’s three most important tours - Australia (three), England (three), and South Africa (three). A comparison between his numbers in these nine Tests with Sehwag’s after he’d played three Tests in each of these countries is quite revealing.
Dhawan lags way behind in terms of average and milestones. Strike rate is generally not considered important in Tests but, with batsmen like Sehwag and Dhawan, it’s a key statistic, since they have a naturally attacking game. Their job at the top of the order is to score quick runs and ensure that the scoreboard has not remained stagnant after the openers have been dismissed. This number is important not only because Dhawan hasn’t scored too many runs in the most important tours for India, but also because he has also not played even one quickfire, counterattacking innings that keeps the scoreboard moving.
Virender Sehwag made his Test debut at a young age of 23. He was not a technically correct batsman by any stretch of imagination. His strength was incredible hand-eye coordination and his eagerness to score off of every delivery. While this may have sometimes landed the team into trouble, Sehwag still pulled his weight in the Indian Test team by being attacking and putting the opposition on the back foot when he was in form. He may have primarily been a batsman who thrived in Asian conditions and became significantly less effective in the latter half of his career when age dulled his instincts, but his career average in Australia, England, and South Africa still remained a respectable 36 and his strike rate an aggressive 71.
In sharp contrast, Shikhar Dhawan made his Test debut at the age 27, an age at which you expect a cricketer to be quite seasoned, especially today, when uncapped players get a lot of exposure to overseas conditions through ‘A’ tours. After having played 29 Tests, his career average of 42 does not sound too great when you consider that Sehwag averaged 53 after 29 Tests. Moreover, Dhawan’s average is heavily inflated by playing too many matches against a weak opposition like Sri Lanka.
Against better teams like Australia, England, New Zealand, and South Africa, Dhawan has played 17 matches, including home games. When you compare him with Sehwag against these teams after the 17-Test mark, the difference is remarkable.
Keep in mind that Sehwag played against Pakistan as well as a very competitive Sri Lankan team. Including numbers against those two teams would increase his average to over 49.
Dhawan, just like Sehwag, does not have the textbook technique of a Murali Vijay or a KL Rahul. But unlike Sehwag, who had the skill to get past technical limitations, Dhawan is simply bogged down by them. While playing outside Asia (excluding West Indies), almost 60% of Dhawan’s dismissals are either against the short ball or to the one outside off that takes the edge.
Shikhar Dhawan is neither as good as Sehwag at the attacking game nor a technically correct batsman. His numbers provide ample evidence of this. Given that the Indian team will spend the next year on the road, is it time that they decided once and for all that Dhawan does not belong in the Test team?