Shikhar Dhawan never stopped hoping: Sinha

We are smitten by Shikhar Dhawan's beautiful and authoritative knock against Australia, but his old coach Tarak Sinha isn't amused. Sinha, who called the southpaw “a fighter”, always knew that Dhawan had something in him to make it big.

“It was a very important knock. Shikhar had replaced a big player such as Virender Sehwag. And he justified his selection with a sensational innings. It was simply outstanding,” Sinha told DNA.

Sinha recalled the day Dhawan went to him to learn the nuances of the game at the Sonnet Club. “He came to me at the age of 12. His had a great judgement of everything related to batting. He was a fit cricketer and always had enormous scope to progress. He was different from others and was also a good fielder,” Sinha said.

Sinha had a glimpse of Dhawan's talent when he scored a ton in an U-14 tournament as a 12-year-old. “His innings came against older boys and it underlined where he was headed,” he said.

He also admired Dhawan's fighting qualities. “He has struggled a lot. He had to wait a lot more than anyone for his opportunities, but he never got demotivated. He was waiting for that one opportunity to prove himself,” he said, recalling the times when the Delhi lad would struggle to find a regular place in the Ranji squad.

“He had returned from a successful U-19 World Cup where he was declared man of the tournament. However, he had to fight for a place in the Delhi squad as he was the third opener after Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Aakash Chopra. It was difficult for him to break into the side, but he never stopped hoping and has been a consistent batsman for Delhi.”

He added, “Even after he was dropped after after five ODIs, he vowed to fight back instead of giving up. He was so desperate to return to the squad that he started working harder than before.”