The Buzz

Borrowed bat sparks Dhawan's revival

Shikhar Dhawan just happened to come across, and like M Vijay's bat during a nets session before his Test debut in Mohali. The rest, as they say, is history.

Rohan Sharma
26-Jun-2013
Shikhar Dhawan celebrates his maiden ODI century, India v South Africa, Champions Trophy, Group B, Cardiff, June 6, 2013

Shikhar Dhawan has been in prolific form ever since he adopted M Vijay's bat  •  ICC/Christopher Lee

Just two days before his magical Mohali debut, Shikhar Dhawan was having a nets session when he happened to pick up M Vijay, his opening partner's, bat and found that it was to his liking. While other cricketers tend to know the exact weightage of their bats and how many grains they want across the blade, Dhawan has a more intuitive approach, taking in the bats' balance and how it 'feels' when he gets into his stance. He walked out with Vijay's bat that fateful day on March 14, and has not looked back since, stroking the fastest century on Test debut, and then adding a further two centuries and a fifty in his ODI comeback during the Champions Trophy. Its safe to say that Dhawan will not be too perturbed if he smuggles a few more pieces of willow out of Vijay's kit bag.

Rohan Sharma is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo