At MCG, home run for Dhawan

Like any sporting nation — singular or multi — Australians endear themselves to the notion of a 'home' game and the magic that comes with it. But they don't think too much of adopted or second homes. Try telling that to the Nagpur faithful who consider Rahul Dravid one of their own because his wife Vijeta Pendharkar hails from there or, for that matter, Chennaiites who love Muttiah Muralitharan as much as they adore Kris Srikkanth.

Dhawan's better half Ayesha Mukherjee lives in Narre Warren, a suburb located 45 km off the centre of Melbourne. A casual chat with a cross section of the fans — both Indian and Australian — revealed this was news to them. Perched in one of the corporate boxes, Mukherjee and her three children must have cherished every stroke that took Dhawan past his seventh ODI century and beyond, but there wasn't a single poster in sight that welcomed the 'son-in-law' to the MCG.

It's not that Dhawan didn't feel at home. Anything but. If nothing, he finally came good on a balmy day after spending a long and unproductive summer on Australian soil. There was no twirl of the moustache, but during the course of his 199-minute stay at the crease, he thumped the South Africans into submission. That he opted to do so in cricket's undisputed 'Theatre of Dreams' was only right and fitting.

Hit but unnerved by bouncers from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, he rose to the occasion to make the most an offering from Hashim Amla on 53 to conjure up a brilliant knock against a world-class attack. If Morkel's next delivery was dispatched to the boundary, then Steyn was dealt with disdain later in the innings.

Thanks to him, India began with caution before changing gears to post 307/7. Dhawan's knock was a lesson in innings building: his fifty came off 70 balls, slow by modern standards. But he eventually made 137 off 146 balls, with 16 fours and two sixes.

Making the most of Amla's 'gift', he hit Wayne Parnell for consecutive boundaries before picking up the ones and twos. His time in the 90s lasted 15 deliveries, but a slap past point, also off Parnell, took him past the magic number. Funnily enough, he stood there tentatively, hoping that the ball would reach the boundary. A speck of doubt prompted him to run a quick two but, by then, the ball had won the race. Off came the helmet, those tattooed arms and that infectious smile.

His knock dotted with beautiful drives, telling cuts and daring pulls and hooks, Dhawan smashed Steyn over long-on for his first six. The very next ball, he came up with a wowing ramp shot over the wicketkeeper's head. In the next over, walked across the stumps a la AB de Villiers and flicked Morne Morkel over square-leg for another six.

Mohammad Azharuddin often spoke of how his favourite shots often led to his downfall. Dhawan went for the pull when Parnell banged in one short in the 44th over but, by then, the Dilliwallah had already put enough runs in front of his name.

He fed off every bowler — 30 runs off 28 balls from Steyn, 13 off 15 from Vernon Philander, 29 off 29 from Morkel, 16 off 21 from JP Duminy, 23 off 32 from Imran Tahir and 26 off 21 from Parnell. Ten off his 16 fours came on the off-side where he scored 76 runs. He was particularly impressive behind square, where he knocked off 75 runs as against 32 in the 'V'.

There was a downside, though. For all the brilliance displayed on the field over two consecutive Sundays, Team India's media policy can only be described as weird. Why else would Virat Kohli address the media on the eve of the South Africa game, a full six days after his match-winning knock in Adelaide? No wonder, then, that Dhawan might talk of his roaring 137 only five days from now, in Perth, where India take on the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

And yes, Dhawan did twirl his moustache — as he walked back after being dismissed — because this act needs a swagger, which only an innings such as this could justify.