“Had more failure than success”- Shikhar Dhawan

Having faced a career full of ups and downs, Shikhar Dhawan says his ability to deal with the “inevitable failure” has helped him immensely in his five-year-old international career.
“Now I am seen as a successful cricketer but the fact is that I have had more failure than success. You are bound to undergo hardships and it has been no different for me. I have played about 60 odd games (ODIs) and scored only eight hundreds. A lot of the guys worry about their form, for me it is just about being persistent and patient,” Dhawan said after interacting with the kids at the Smile Foundation on Tuesday.

Having debuted in 2010 after being ignored for much part of his career despite success in IPL and Ranji, Dhawan has been a regular member of the team especially since his brilliant Test debut in 2013, against Australia where he score 187 at Mohali.

Despite a run of good and bad forms, Shikhar has always managed to retain his confidence through some good knocks, scoring when his team needed him the most. He was very impressive during the World Cup Down Under despite struggling in the Test and ODI series against Australia.

“You have to have the persistence power, something that has helped me out over the years to deal with failures,” stressed Dhawan, who spent quality time with the kids, alongside his wife and son.

The Indian cricket team has been playing back to back cricket since the Australia tour, followed by the World Cup and the IPL later. India now visits Bangladesh next month for a short series.

Commenting on this, Dhawan said, “I just want to keep focussing tour by tour, prepare well. Fitness is also important as we play round the year. It is not that easy. You have to work on your fitness, maintain it. I try to do it whenever I have an off day.”

The jovial cricketer when asked about his inspiration, replied, “When Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) paaji hits the ball, he hits it really sweet, like no other. I was inspired by that. I realised I had to play like him to have success in international cricket. Consistency wise, I learnt a lot from (Cheteshwar) Pujara.

“The bowlers get tired in trying to dismiss him but he doesn’t throw his wicket away. The bowlers end up scratching their heads eventually. So there is lots to be learnt from your teammates,” he said drawing a laughter from the kids.

Dhawan picked his World Cup hundred against South Africa as a special one and recalled his Test debut as the most memorable match of his career.

“The hundred against South Africa was memorable as it was against a very good team. It was very satisfying.

“Then the Mohali Test has to be the most memorable match of my career. It was a dream come true for me. You can’t like bat that regularly,” added Dhawan.