Starting trouble: Dhawan is India's only in-form opener and that will be a worry for Kohli

Birmingham:
Scene 1: In the opening game of the 2013 Champions Trophy in Cardiff, India tried a new opening combination. About six months before, they had narrowed down to Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, but a whirlwind hundred in Mohali had changed those plans. Shikhar Dhawan then announced his comeback to ODI cricket with 114 against South Africa as India rode to victory in their first match. Five days later, he scored a second successive hundred against West Indies as India’s bid for the trophy got into high gear.

Champions Trophy 2013 is remembered as the benchmark Dhawan set for himself. Throughout his career, across formats, he has continued to blow hot and cold. But when it comes to ICC events, he suddenly kicks on. The 2015 World Cup is another example – he struck two centuries against South Africa and Ireland in the space of five matches. However after that tournament, his standing in the team was thrown in turmoil once again, particularly given the rise of KL Rahul in 2015-16.

When you look at Dhawan’s figures overall, an average of 42.91 from 76 ODIs with nin hundreds paints a decent picture. The deal-breaker is when you delve deeper. Take the ODI series in Australia last January for consideration. Dhawan returned 287 runs from five matches, but a bulk of them – scores of 126 and 78 totalling 204 in 2 matches – came when the series had already been sealed.

There is an argument that more often than not Dhawan has played for his place in the side, tightening up his game when it has suited him personally. There is a strange inconsistency in his play, almost too long a gap between impressive performances to warrant a spot in the first-choice eleven.

“He is someone who gives you a quick start whenever he gets going,” was how former skipper MS Dhoni explained this conundrum over the years. It augurs the question if India persisted with Dhawan – a poor man’s version of Virender Sehwag – for too long. Could that time have been invested in finding an alternate option?

Scene 2: In the latter half of India’s 2014 tour to England, Rohit got injured and Rahane opened the innings in four ODIs instead. His return from that series made for an impressive reading – 192 runs at average of 48. This is a batsman who likes to open the innings in limited-overs’ cricket, and while there is debate over his strike-rate in the shortest format, there can be no denying that his game was perfectly suited for one-day cricket.

Rahane has a natural balance between attack and defence, irrespective of conditions. He is an all-weather cricketer, perhaps more so than Rohit, and second only to Virat Kohli in this current team. For some reason though, the numbers do not add up. You only have to go back to January 2013 (51 runs in three ODIs against England), when Rahane’s run at the top of the order was cut short, as then-skipper Dhoni decided it was time to give someone else a chance.

Rahane has always done well as an opener in England, but elsewhere – even in India – his record makes for disappointing reading. Perhaps his single-most important chance came in October 2016, when both Dhawan and Rahul were unavailable and Rahane was afforded the chance to open in an entire home ODI series. His return – 143 runs in five ODIs – was so paltry that it shook his confidence and he suffered a first poor Test series (against England) thereafter.

Again, the aforementioned question needs to be asked; could the team management have sought better options over this considerable period of time? The answer is both yes, and no.

Rohit’s shaky return from injury

The team turned to Dhawan as it became apparent quite early that Rahane was not the first-choice opener. He was slotted in the middle order. Even so, he never quite felt at home at No.4, and it was too much to ask him to continue there, particularly as India looked to build to this current Champions Trophy and later the 2019 World Cup.

Later, the duo represented the best possible choices to open with Rohit. Only now, the absence of Rahul is causing grief to the team management. If he had been fit and available, the selectors would have locked down on him and Rohit, with Dhawan probably the third-choice pick on account of his IPL run. Now, the current combination makes for a concerning situation.

It has to do more with Rohit than the other two batsmen, surprisingly. A lot has been said about his Test form, but in the limited-overs’ arena, there is no denying that Rohit is an asset at the top of the order. Much like Rahane, his game is suited to a top-three position in the shorter formats. Unlike his Mumbai teammate though, Rohit has certain longevity about his stay at the crease. The two double hundreds are certifiable proof of this, yes. Additionally though, his presence at the crease had a stabilising effect at the top. But it didn’t show in a poor series against New Zealand, after which he was out injured.

This is where things take a worrisome turn. Rohit has been one of the most consistent performers in the IPL, but the burden of captaincy truly showed this season. Firstly, he decided that opening wasn’t going to be an option for him. And then, it impacted the runs’ output from the season gone past. Rohit’s tally of 333 runs in 17 matches is his lowest in ten seasons of IPL, pointing to a batsman who has just returned from injury and not recovered his best self just yet.

The two warm-ups in England – against New Zealand and Bangladesh – didn’t provide assurance on this front either. Rahane scored 7 and 11 in the two games, while Rohit, returning from time off after the IPL, featured in only the second game and scored only one against Bangladesh. As much as the team management seeks confidence in Dhawan (40 against New Zealand and 60 against Bangladesh), it does make for an uneasy setting that he is the most in-form opener for India heading into their title defence.

Much like the 2013 edition then, the Men in Blue enter this tournament with the “unknown” rider attached to their opening combination. Only difference from four years ago, is that the names are certain.

Their form? Well, that is a debate for another day, possibly after the game against Pakistan.